Mary Arthur Pollak

Years of education in studio art and design and a variety of art practices have directed my path to a diverse and sometimes unpredictable process of creating the “unique print”.
As a former art teacher and avid traveler, I collect materials wherever I land, record images, and experiment with varied mediums, which are recorded in my art.
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Monotype has been my focus for more than a decade and remains a challenging and evolving journey.
To create my prints I use an assortment of tools including brayers, brushes, and various textured objects to apply paint to the plexi plate. This is then printed on to dampened rag paper with a Takach etching press. Original stencils, string, and other found materials are used to produce line and shape. I often repaint and print the plate up to four times with variations, in order to capture subtleties built up under the surface. Other mediums are often added to the print using techniques such as transfer methods and chine colle. To further expand the process I sometimes use drawing materials or collage the monotype prints to complete the piece.