Artist Statement
I began printmaking more than thirty years ago using time-honored methods, in particular, etching. When I moved into a studio at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart outside Washington, DC in 1997, I eschewed toxic chemicals and began creating monotypes. I am particularly interested in depicting the ambiguity between views of the earth as seen from high above and organic structures that can be observed through a microscope. Monotypes have been my main interest for years.
In early 2018 and in 2019, I became interested in the Pacific gyre, a floating area of garbage the size of Texas. Having driven across only half of Texas in my life, it stayed on my mind intently. At the same time, I had just completed teaching a semester of printmaking at Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth, NH. I had collected items from my recycling for the students to make collagraphs. These are prints designed using textures which are sealed, inked and transferred onto paper. Beginning small, I eventually created thirty-six large collagraphs whose theme was the swampy areas and wetlands on the seacoast of NH and southern ME.
In January, 2020, I applied for and was accepted for a residency with Alfonso Crujera, a master printer in the Canary Islands who has developed techniques for etching called electro-etch. Scheduled to attend in January 2021, by the summer of Covid-19 I knew that my residency was not going to happen. When January came around, I resigned myself to purchasing the equipment and with help from my husband, a former electrical engineer, and we created my setup. To begin, I needed to revisit etchings. Using old plates from earlier work, I re-printed them, stacked them and played around with imagery until I reached my former level of skill. Much of the "new" work here arose from that playful time. "Watery World" as well as "Land and Sea" in my new works gallery are the first images made using electro-etch. Safer than the usual toxic mix, I am now enthusiastic about a return to etching.
In 1990, I received a Master’s in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University with a concentration in science. Working as an artist while I studied and taught science, I completed a series of large scale paintings and drawings based upon microscopy as my final Master’s project. I moved from the teaching of biology to teaching art when I was hired by Stone Ridge. Recently, I have returned to teach art at Great Bay Community College.