I was very happy to learn that 3 pieces of mine were accepted to the Society of Illustrators 55th Annual and that the piece above won a silver medal in the Institutional category. Big thank you to all the jurors. The art (which is a hand colored etching) was published in SIC magazine. The theme of the issue was "Red". SIC is a promotional publication for the Outsider Art Gallery in Frenchtown, NJ. The publisher/AD is gallery owner Dion Hitchings.

Earlier this year, I was one of 4 New Jersey artists selected to participate in a collaborative editions project with the Printmaking Center of NJ. We were each teamed up with a master printer to work with. I have a background in traditional etching and was interested in exploring new non-toxic methods. Solar Plate fit the bill. It's a photo etching process that uses light sensitive polymer plates and a UV exposure unit. The plate is rinsed with tap water and printed like a traditional etching. The Hockney piece was the first try. I used an existing pen drawing which was digitally transferred to acetate. The acetate was then placed on the plate and exposed to light in the UV unit. Several versions were tried, both cropped and full image. The plates were inked and printed by a wonderful printer, Sheila Goloborotko, who is their artistic director. I then hand colored the edition.

The PCNJ is a great printmaking and educational organization. You can learn more about it at www.printnj.org

The next print was this one of Chuck Close. In this case, I drew and painted directly on the acetate. The rest of the process was the same as with the Hockney piece.