I’m pretty happy with how this print turned out, but it went through quite a few stages. It was going well, then I thought I messed it up. In the end, I think I salvaged it.

• Monotype with wood and stencils

This group of images was part of an incredibly fun project that I took part in several years ago. It is a set of collaborative prints that I completed with Beth Pearson and Holly Hauser (whose site I can’t find), through the Burlington City Arts Print Studio. During the span of a couple months, the three of us worked together on these unique prints. Working with plates created by each of us, we swapped prints and matrixes fluidly. In the end, I think the result was stronger than what either of us could have produced alone. It was, at the very least, outside of what we were used to creating.

The process was a beneficial one for me, and I look back on these images fondly. Beth in particular was—and in some ways remains—a big influence on my work. Looking back, I’m a bit ashamed to see how much of her aesthetic surfaced in my work. It was a formative period for me, so hopefully she took it as flattery.

• Monotype with wood, stencils

When layered with the other colors, it doesn’t look that bright, but I always like to use a bright color as a contrast to the neutrals. It’s one of those situations where one wouldn’t have half of the impact without the other.

• Monotype with wood and stencils on buff paper

This particular print was one of the first ones that I started in this 4.5″ inch square series. It took me a really long time to finish, though. It was just one of those prints that needed more, but I wasn’t sure what. It ended up as a contrast of subtle values and bright colors.

• Monotype with wood, stencils

The symmetrical, but slightly off composition is one that I like to exploit frequently. Especially with this series, symmetry seems to happen naturally, and it’s a composition that I’m naturally drawn to. Perfect symmetry, however, gets kind of boring. It always has to have something…off. In many cases, the natural world is like that, and possibly that’s why I’m drawn to it. Either way, here’s another mostly symmetrical compostion.

• Monotype with wood, stencils

Working with wood as a vehicle for the ink in this series introduces another unpredictable element to these prints. That’s an important element in my work: the more anal it becomes, the more I have to introduce random and uncontrollable elements. Says something about my personality, I suppose.

Regardless, working with wood automatically incorporates organic textures in the work. This can get out of hand sometimes, but I think that I’m keeping it in check. As always, it’s about balance and the texture helps to balance what would otherwise be rigid and flat shapes.

• Monotype with wood, stencils

Monotype with wood, stencils

As you can see, I’m really enjoying the layering of colors in this series. The ability to layer like this is certainly unique to printmaking, as well as being its most appealing characteristic to me. With a little planning and mental vision, you can achieve quite vibrant colors that contrast with deep, murky ones.

Monotype with wood, stencils

I’m starting to explore mark-making on prints. I realize that this is neither groundbreak, nor all that particularly adventurous. For me, however, the surfaces of prints are somewhat sacred. I have always sought to make every mark on a print via a plate, and to some extent, that’s still an important artistic challenge to me. My recent focus on a more spontaneous working method has led me down this path, and to some interesting results I think. It’s something that I plan to continue in the future.

Monotype with wood and stencils and pencil additions

To me, this print just says trouble if you hide.

Monotype with wood and fiber.

This is not a landscape in the traditional sense. It was never meant to be a landscape and doesn’t resemble a specific place. Regardless, I can’t help but see it as a landscape.

For quite some time, I’ve been really fascinated by the way nature juxtaposes color. This is, I suppose, my feeble attempt at that.

Wood monotype with stencils