I was 25 when I moved to New Mexico in 1979. When I saw the sunsets here, I wanted to do views toward
the Jemez with spray paint and stencils (probably a good thing I didn't). In early 2001, I sponsored a
friend of mine in the Monothon (some of you may remember that yearly art event initiated by Ron
Pokrasso that sadly terminated a few years ago after about two decades), and got to observe his printing
session. I said, "This looks like fun". So I took a one-week workshop with Tom Kirby in June and I caught
the monotype bug. Since then, I have taken print-making classes at the community college with Patricia
Pearce almost continuously.
I got into monotypes as an attempt to make a visual expression of the improvised music that I play. Thus
I am mainly interested in rendered abstracts. The relief prints (using the actual plants to make the
images) are really a sort of side trip in printing for me because I found I could usually get some good
prints when I was having a disappointing day in the abstract realm.
I have tried to find out the names of the plants, but there are cases where I'm still not sure if I got it right.
So I would like to hear from anyone who knows their grasses if I need to correct errors in plant
identification (common names only).
The print that doesn't belong with the botanicals or the abstracts is the opening scene from a movie by
Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon 1950, B+W). The image of the burned out temple has stayed with me ever
since I saw the movie, because although the sense of tragedy is palpable, it is ultimately mysterious
because the cause of the disaster is never revealed.
Encaustic paintings are not as delicate as the monotypes. Just don't leave them in the trunk of the car or
hang them next to the stove or in direct sunlight. They can be polished with a soft, clean, dry cloth.
