All of my art begins with a thumbnail sketch and a smooth piece of linoleum. Out of necessity, I work from a very good drawing. I must render my palette down to fewer than a dozen colors, and establish the placement of colors, before I make the first cut in the linoleum. This results in very bold colors, which makes my artwork clean and fresh. Rather than creating numerous linoleum plates (one for each color), reduction printmaking uses a single plate that is carved, and re-carved, to become the printing plate for the next color. I use Japanese woodcut tools and print with water soluble ink on hotpress watercolor paper.
My work is relatively small, and I produce editions of 30 or fewer. (The lino is soft and does not stand up to unlimited prints.) I do not work with a press; my prints are transferred by hand. I do a lot of my “art composing” late at night when the house is quiet. I let my thoughts wander, until an image or an idea percolate to the surface. Over the next several days, I will solidify the image in my mind’s eye, and work it out on paper. In this way, my art is directly influenced by the events of my life, and the experiences imprinted on my brain. I like to say that I create “Art that Tells a Story.”
Henri Matisse’s words express the way I feel about the art I create: “What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter – a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.”
Reduction linocut is my joy: I love to draw and plan, I like order, I enjoy creating with a limited palette, I like the feel of carving the linoleum, and I revel in the shock of adding a new color during the printing process. I am constantly inspired by birds, trees, flowers, my cat, other animals, and the Scriptures.
Artist friends from one of the galleries that feature my work have nicknamed me the “Cat Lady.” I don’t mind; I feature cats in a large percentage of my linocuts. I love to create colorful, bright, whimsical cat art. In addition to creating reduction linoleum prints, I also teach printmaking workshops to share my knowledge. It is wonderful to see others learning and enjoying the printmaking process.
Anne Gaines’ work may be found at the Downtown Art Gallery in Brenham TX, the Texas Artisan Gallery in Chappell Hill TX, and the Red Velvet Inn and Gallery in Navasota TX. She also sells her work online – there is a Shop link at the top of the page.