Prints and Monoprints

My dragon 22" x 30"
at the waters edge 30" x 22"
4' x 4' Giant Steamroller Print Check out "ART UNDER PRESSURE" video below

What are Monoprints?
Monoprints are unique prints- an edition of one, made using a variety of techniques. My monoprints all start their lives on an etching press, where I use a plastic plate to build up layer upon layer of transparent colours of ink on the paper. I continue to build the image using etched plates, collographs, cut paper and other print media. When the oil based inks are dry, I go back into the monoprint and add the coloured pencil drawing, paint or collage to finish the work.

The monoprints have their own stories to tell and have been created over time and process. Some of the pieces have travelled with me for several years, waiting for the final colour or image to finish them off.

For more info click here

Leaves 22" x 30"

Before hammering the (30) 8′ x 3′ copper bird etchings that I used for my “Winging North” installation at the Canda Games Centre, I made a series of large monoprints. I called this series “Transmigrations”

“Orienting north”, Origins, Where Sea meets Sand and Birds eye view  below are from this series

Each approx 4′ x 8′-9′

Where sea meets sand“, This mixed media monoprint is part of Transmigrations-a series of 13 large scale prints made from a selection of the Winging north copper birds at the Canada Games Centre

Birds eye view, 4' x 8.5'
Origins
Orienting North

Caribou Prints

In 1990 I found myself on the Firth River, in the far north-west corner of the Yukon. I was training to be a raft guide with Ecosummer Yukon Expeditions (a company I would eventually co-own) and was excited at the prospect of seeing my first muskox. What I did see was far more memorable. I witnessed about 10,000 caribou crossing the river, a small part of the Porcupine Caribou herd, one that migrates annually from the Yukon to Alaska to calve.

Thousands of caribou surged around me, snorting and barking in low coughs. Waves of swirling brown part and poured past. Thousands of legs upon thousands of feet churned the soil, kicking up dust and sending shed hair airborne. The restless energy of the herd was palpable. They were so close, yet even while sitting in the midst of it all, I felt no fear.

The 10-02 lands, also known as ANWR (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge), harbours the calving grounds for this herd of caribou and is under threat by oil development. As worldwise wilderness areas diminish each year, I urge wise decision making in this issue.

The following body of work was made in celebration of caribou and the wilderness they inhabit.

top left “Caribou cresting“, etching

Bottom-left: “Caribou Ghosts” monoprint

Middle: “Fall Migration” monoprint

Right: “Bulls on the horizon” monoprint

The four etchings below were printed in Arenys de Munt, Spain at Murtra Studio