Steamboat Pilot & Today

Go ahead and "laugh your head off" at Jill Bergman's colorful monoprints.

Bergman's show, "Laugh your head off: The Art of Euphemism," which opens tonight at the Small Works Gallery at the Depot Art Center, explores a literal meaning to everyday sayings such as "knuckle sandwich," "cat got your tongue" and "face plant."

"When I hear things, I get a funny image. Not quite what people are really thinking," Bergman said.

Envision a clenched fist served up with lettuce and tomato between two slices of bread. Or a fluffy, gray and white cat flaunting a severed pink tongue. Or a leafy green plant with a man's face emblazoned on each individual leaf.

Bergman's show focuses on word play. She narrows in on euphemisms and American idioms that relate to body parts. "Brain Storm," for example, shows a torrent of gray matter raining out of the sky amidst lightning bolts in a thunder shower.

Below each small, bright print, Bergman uses a vintage 1950s rubber stamp kit, intended "for office use," to stamp the corresponding saying.

To create her prints, Bergman paints the images with ink on glass, then transfers the picture onto heavy printing paper. Bergman said this is her first time working with monoprints, and she loves it.

"They're fun, and they aren't hard to do," Bergman said.

Eventually, Bergman said she hopes to add more prints to this series and bind all of her images into a book. But for now, she has plenty of work cut out for her -- someone just gave her a brand-new book full of inspiring anatomical sayings that she expects will give her enough material to last a lifetime.

An opening reception for "Laugh your head off: The art of euphemism" will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the Depot Art Center. Being that this is Bergman's first solo show in Steamboat Springs, there's a good chance she'll be afflicted with "Butterflies in my stomach" or her "Head in the clouds" -- both of which will be readily on display at the Depot.