I was drawn to printmaking long before I even knew what it was. In my mid-fifties I chanced upon a weekend printmaking workshop and realized the images that attracted me over the years had been all created with various printmaking techniques.
Starting out, I carved erasers and soft-cut rubber, scored designs into polystyrene (usually recycled take-out sushi trays), played around with homemade and purchased gelatin plates, and eventually treated myself to an etching press.
The physical power of the press (as opposed to hand pressure using a baren) expanded the types of prints I could attempt, such as collagraphs, dry points and wood cuts.
I soon realized I was less interested in producing an edition of almost identical prints and more excited with an experimental approach – chopping up and re-assembling failed prints, working over existing backgrounds, and printing over a collage of found and/or hand-stained papers (a process known as chine colle).
To improve my composition and design skills I started a daily sketch practice (which translates to “intending” to sketch daily!). My enthusiasm waxes and wanes, but most days something ends up in the sketchbook. I’ve also discovered the joy of binding simple books, a happy solution for making use of some of the mountains of found and hand-printed paper that accumulates.
I live and work in a squared timber house on nine acres, overlooking a meandering creek and surrounded by fragrant stands of fir, pine and cedar.
