The Encounter Series
This series of prints was inspired from a direct encounter with a bobcat in the summer of 2017. I was working in my New Hampshire studio and heard distress squawks coming from my chickens who were roaming outdoors; I assumed the fox was back...I ran out of my studio and came body to body, head to head, eyes to eyes, with a wild bobcat, claws extended in the pounce position. We startled each other and I threw my arms up above my head to make myself look "big". I noticed how fit and healthy it was and the dappled spots in its' tawny fur and razor sharp dark claws. It ran off, then sauntered near the edge of the woods, glancing back at me as it disappeared into the dense thicket. There is a natural depiction of these animals in my print and an intended metaphor present: the premise that encountering the unexpected and dangerous can be met without violence or panic. Animals trust and survive on instinct; the fox's ears represent the importance of hearing for survival and the bobcat's extended claws are the imminent threat. In today's political and social climate of fear of the unknown or "different", often met with threatening behavior; we could all hear and listen more carefully in order to understand, co-habitat and respect all living beings in this world.
This is a handpulled intaglio print using the aquatint techniques of sugar lift and spit bite on three copper plates. Both of these techniques utilize a brush as the initial drawing implement before immersion into an acid bath. A la poupée is a method of inking the plates with multiple colors of ink. A thin gampi paper was used for the chine collé method, in which a thinner paper is simultaneously printed on and glued to a supporting printmaking paper: Somerset. This is one of a series of prints entitled The Encounter III. I
have four copper plates with a different image on each plate; depending on how I print them together or alone greatly impacts the psychological and emotive content of the print.
