I am a ceramic artist who, for the last thirty years, has concentrated mostly on designing and making functional pottery. Twelve years ago I joined a printmaking class, reviving an old interest I had as a teenager. I took the class simply to take a break from my clay work but now, a decade later, the printmaking has informed the clay and my clay work has informed my prints, as I recognize the two have a similar design, palette, form, scale and essence.
My most successful experiences in producing print based images have been developed by combining etchings, stencils and monotypes. This approach has provided me with a repeatable matrix as well as a technique to change color, atmosphere and mood in each print - offering me the ability to explore variations within the matrix and produce a series of unique related works. It became clear to me, while working separately but simultaneously in clay and with prints, that all of these new found printmaking techniques could be directly translated to clay. Having always enjoyed making series and lines of work , I immediately connected to the repeatable matrix approach in printmaking and how the two mediums could work together.
At present my work is fueled by my investigations into two and three dimensional art making, and mixed media has become a clear focus. My shadow boxes, stage set models and 3-D objects are the evidence of these interests. I now transfer my print images to ceramic decal paper and fire them directly onto my clay surfaces. My collaged print backdrops appear in my boxes and stage sets. In short my interest in the clay surfaces and printmaking have resulted in hybrid objects that support all of my sensibilities.