My art is rooted in the natural world around me. Living in a small town with a large garden, not to mention the view across fields and the Petitcodiac River, provides plenty of subject matter and inspiration.
My interest in the natural world traces back to my childhood spent on a dairy farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley. Woods, fields and gardens formed a constant background personality to my life. As a child I knew that fairies danced down sunbeams in the hayloft and lived in the grate behind the kitchen stove. Throughout my life I have continued to find joy, wonder and inspiration in nature. Retirement has given me both the mental and the physical time to create handmade books, improve my drawing skills and now to produce linocut prints.
I have no formal art training but a variety of workshops (from making handmade books to learning about the colour wheel to making collograph prints) has given me an array of skills, methods and approaches to draw on. Books and YouTube videos have provided more specific techniques related to linocut.
Although I find all aspects of linocut printing enjoyable, I particularly like working out my designs--finding ways to translate a picture in my head into something that can be carved and printed. Simplifying a snail, a flower or a fish to capture its essential qualities and produce a unique view of that snail, fish or flower is a challenge--and a lot of fun. It becomes a journey of discovery.
My interest in the natural world traces back to my childhood spent on a dairy farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley. Woods, fields and gardens formed a constant background personality to my life. As a child I knew that fairies danced down sunbeams in the hayloft and lived in the grate behind the kitchen stove. Throughout my life I have continued to find joy, wonder and inspiration in nature. Retirement has given me both the mental and the physical time to create handmade books, improve my drawing skills and now to produce linocut prints.
I have no formal art training but a variety of workshops (from making handmade books to learning about the colour wheel to making collograph prints) has given me an array of skills, methods and approaches to draw on. Books and YouTube videos have provided more specific techniques related to linocut.
Although I find all aspects of linocut printing enjoyable, I particularly like working out my designs--finding ways to translate a picture in my head into something that can be carved and printed. Simplifying a snail, a flower or a fish to capture its essential qualities and produce a unique view of that snail, fish or flower is a challenge--and a lot of fun. It becomes a journey of discovery.