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THE WOODCUTS It was printmaking that interested me most when I began work as an artist, and my first twelve years (almost 200 editions!) were spent concentrating on woodcuts. I'm proud of that work - it's a difficult, labor-intensive medium, and I've always had a special place in my heart for the people who supported me by buying all those prints as I went along, and who appreciate what went into their making. Two things that got me started in woodcuts: I wanted an excuse to buy beautiful papers, and I loved the warmth and graceful patterns of wood. I'd choose the woods with great care, usually according to the design in mind, and the line and edge quality each would produce. The images were almost always created using several varieties of wood - hard and soft, exotic and common - and prominent use of the grain became kind of a trademark for me. All kinds of prepared inks are available, but I always preferred to agonize over my own subtleties and brilliancies, thicks and thins, blends and combinations, and (much like reinventing the wheel!) had to re-discover with each new image what seemed to be beautiful enough. THE SERIGRAPHS The fact that serigraphs lend themselves so beautifully to color blends is what drew me to this medium, and Ben's patience and sort of scientific approach to projects accomplished that beyond my expectations. The prints 'dashade' and 'circlet' are great examples of that. There aren't too many of these prints because I got interested in painting at about the same time as the serigraphs, and went off single-mindedly in that direction. But we still have all our equipment and plan to do more (and maybe even a woodcut or two!) here in our new studio in Florida. |
ABOUT MY PRINTMAKING |
