about the artisto|oCreal's portfolio o   artist's statement I am a visual artist engaged in the creation of cohesive bodies of original work through select traditional fine art print processes. I make landscapes, still lives and nonrepresentational images. I develop these bodies of work through monotype and lithographic print processes. A monotype is a one of a kind print process. Ink is laid up on a plate and manipulated to make an image from which one good impression can be made. There are no editions with this process. In my monotypes I enjoy the fluidity and speed of the process and most often explore non representational works involved in the exploration of textures, movement and variations in light and dark. I work to create strong formal abstractions with elegant gestural movement. Lithography traditionally involves making a drawing on a limestone block from which you chemically process the image and print an edition. When I first started my study of lithography I fell in love with the rich drawing possibilities that this process offers. There is nothing like drawing on a grained limestone surface. It is possible to build rich tonal and textural passages as you work with different grades of lithographic drawing crayons and pencils. It can take many hours for the image to develop on the stone. After a time the image starts to take form or have a presence with which I can engage in a dialogue about its future development. This is when the fun begins. I have made several romantic barrier island forest images derived from our South Carolina coast. I studied lithography with Boyd Saunders, initiator of the print program at the University of South Carolina and co-founder of the Southern Graphics Council. I have also had the opportunity to work collaboratively with professional lithographer Wayne Kline of the Rolling Stone Press and receive training with professional lithographer Lynn Froelich.