A relief printmaker, I specialize in nature printing: using the actual organism (fish, fern, octopus….) to create the image. Once I have my original prints to work with, II use mixed media collage techniques with encaustic (melted beeswax, tree resin, and pigments) to create light filled environments for my one-of-kind images.

I have been a proud member of the Nature Printing Society since 1997.

This baby octopus gyotaku was created by a kindergartner in one of my classes. Click on my March 2 blog entry to read the story.

GYOTAKU: SOME BACK STORIES

Most of my pieces have a "back story." Many, but certainly not all, the stories involve a fishing trip. Like the encaustic process itself, bringing the subject matter to its new life as art draws on many layers of experience, meaning, and technique.

Two Little Rockfish, 18" x 12"

First a lovely 17" Koi was salvaged from a sad event, a "die off," in a backyard pond belonging to the friend of a friend. My friend, Betty, happened to be an avid nature printer.  Betty called me excitedly with the news, "I have a fresh Koi!!", and we met at my studio  for a session of gyotaku  with our favorite inks and paints and an assortment of papers and fabrics. We worked for several hours, and made quite a few images. Some of those Koi images stayed with me through a move to a new home and studio. There, several years after the initial printing session, I gathered some leaves and brought them home for a morning of botanical printing. By that time, I had discovered encaustic. I glued a heavy layer of linter (pressed cotton fiber normally used for papermaking) to a 24" diameter 1/2" plywood board and then applied many layers of encaustic, incorporating the Koi and leaf impressions. Heat, via torch and heat gun, was used  to fuse each layer to the one below. Warm wax became cool water, leaves floated to the surface, and Koi was home again.