My focus for summer 2022 has been making images of plants at our farm. Particularly, the corn field has drawn me in. Corn plants are irresistible to me, but I'm not alone. At dusk on July 4th, as Andrew and I arrived home from our local parade, a bobcat dashed across our path and hid among the corn plants! The best part was that she may have thought she was concealed, but we could see her whole body and enjoyed a good long glance.  Maybe she was just as curious about us as we were of her. Magic memory!

That bobcat energized my intaglio platemaking and printmaking. To recreate the dark, cool inner sanctum of the corn field, I was inspired by a fellow intaglio artist, who uses white ink on a dark background. I really wanted to figure out how to do that with Akua ink. It took some doing, but I finally succeeded. It was surprising how much ink is required to achieve a dark background. Learning new techniques is super gratifying. The harder the challenge, the better!

Big news: In the process of figuring out how to create "In the Cornfield" on a dark field, I was traveling to Myrtle Press in Sacramento and to my friend's studio in Vacaville. Both locales, while enjoyable, were too hot and dry. Akua ink did not perform well and neither did my brain, lol. This is why I am thrilled that I bought a new (used) press from a fellow printmaker at Solano Community College. Much thanks to Andrew Brait and Jeanne Lorenz and Natalie Ng and Ann Temple for making it so!

Finally, thank YOU for following and supporting my art. Obviously, I would not be able to make art without you.

in gratitude for love,

in gratitude for this life,
Anna