ARTIST STATEMENT
Prints have a timeless and classic appeal. I employ a personal calligraphy using the aesthetic sensibility and technology of prior ages and cultures. The sequential and layered nature of printmaking is the perfect means for building a grammar of personal expression that suggests the mood of my central subject. I relish the surprise of pulling a print from the press and discovering that the image and paper have become one. I appreciate the evolving, organic process of bringing an image to life.
My art is both idealistic and romantic, traveling the trajectory of my personal experience and perspective. My prints are conceived as a soul sanctuary where viewers can quietly contemplate the pulse, poetry and riot of nature~ transformational patterns within land, water, and sky. A colorful story unfolds within the wake of relief and etched lines that move in an arc of rhythmic energy.
BIO
My art education has been a life-long passion. As a child, I was always experimenting with unconventional materials. Today my playfulness is a bit more focused and refined. Since retiring as an elementary art teacher in June 2008, I have concentrated on creating a portfolio of original limited edition intaglio prints, relief prints and monotypes. I maintain my print studio, Thorntown Press, at 137 South Pearl Street~ Thorntown, Indiana.
Mentors have played a huge role in my own fulfillment and success, passing on skills and providing me with new opportunities for exploration. I was trained as a metal smith in the 1970s under the tutelage of Alma Eikerman, Distinctive Professor of Metalsmithing at IU, Bloomington. Eikerman instilled in me a dedication to the skills of masterful craftsmanship based on a solid understanding of design principles and studio technology. The crucible of the metals shop was the perfect place to practice my craft ~ an artistry which demands attention to detail, patience and passion. My transformation as a print artist happened many years later and reflects my current interest in narrative, two-dimensional printmaking that, like metalsmithing, is heavily process oriented.
