its about

its about the freedom and spontaneity of working with greasy inks!

Artist Statement (V)

                

       I have worked for years as a landscape gardener professionally and for my own pleasure. As a child I would run into the woods to escape the tedious demands of family chores. My father often said “There is more to fear from people than anything in the forest.” I can be strong when I am surrounded by plants with my feet set firmly on the earth.  This deep connection with the natural world is what informs my art.

      I have found a freedom, physicality and spontaneity in monoprints. Degas described monoprints “as drawings made with greasy ink and put through a press.” Much like creating a garden, it is messy work and the tools are heavy. The physicality of process in printmaking and the freedom and spontaneity in creating monoprints reflects my experience working with the earth. When I lay in a color, place a stencil or a mark in the “greasy ink” it reminds me of designing and digging in a garden. I am always surprised and often, not always, rewarded with the results.

      This series is my joyful effort at creating a garden on paper. I am exaggerating scale and freely experimenting with color. I call it Les Feuilles de Vie or The Leaves of Life. Like the leaves on the trees or the pages in a book, our lives move through seasons and stories. I create paper stencils and use leaves from living plant material in my work. There are often traces of the plants left within the prints, traces of what was.

    

                                            

Work in progress images.