FINE ART:

Textile Work:

I design, cut, sew, or knit all the work myself, yet I strive to make these garments appear store-bought. I want viewers to look twice before they realize that this clothing could not have been factory-made. Familiar garments such as denim jeans and men’s shirts require a high degree of labor and skill that most people take for granted, but these items are essential parts of our physical, and psychological, wardrobe. I alter these forms, not to change the style or fit, but to change what they say to us about ourselves.

Relief Prints:

These prints are made using poster board. I cut the designs with an x-acto knife, and then roll out ink onto the surface and transfer the image to a piece of paper using an etching press.

ILLUSTRATIONS:

To create my illustrations, I most often use printmaking techniques –  transferring color from one surface to another, building the images up gradually from flat layers of color. Recently, I have also begun painting with gouache using stencils, brushes, and nib pens.

Lino-Cut Printing:

For my linoleum block prints, (linocuts), I cut the image into sheets of battleship linoleum (yes, battleship linoleum really is used on the decks of battleships), roll ink onto the surface, and print the image onto paper using an etching press. Images with multiple colors use multiple blocks, each printed with a separate run through the press.

Mixed Media Printing:

My mixed media relief prints evolved from a desire to maximize color, texture and shape. These methods include a nontraditional combination of printmaking techniques. A wide variety of materials are used to create layers of color and pattern and, similar to linocut, each block is printed by rolling ink onto its surface, then the ink is transferred onto paper using a press. Anything I can ink up and run through my press becomes a likely candidate for an element in one of my prints. Some of my mixed media prints also involve other printmaking techniques, such as chine colle, collography, and monotyping. I like finding new things to experiment with in my printmaking.

Stencils and Gouache:

This technique grew out of my mixed media printing process. I still cut shapes, but this time I cut them out of acetate sheets and paint through the stencils with soft, flat brushes and gouache paint (opaque watercolors). This process does not require a printmaking press to execute, so things move faster and there is more room for painterly expression!

Here is an example from To Be Like The Sun of how I gradually built of layers of color and pattern with relief printing. Each image is a scan of a print after each successive run through her press. The final details were added with stencils.

Here are some of the Margaret has used to print with to date:

• posterboard
• textured decorative papers
• textured vinyl fabrics including Naugahyde
• textured vinyl from make-up and tote bags and belts
• textured and tooled leather
• floor vinyl
• the reverse side of padded flannel fabric
• jiffy-grip no skid fabric
• quilted vinyl including a diaper changing table cover
• textured wallpaper
• paper doilies
• plastic lace yardage, tablecloths, placemats and doilies
• various plastic placemats
• various shelf liner fabrics
• corrugated cardboard
• corrugated cardboard decorative borders
• rick-rack
• grosgrain ribbon
• mesh produce bags
• cork
• wood veneer
• Styrofoam
• Astroturf
• saran wrap
• Elmer’s glue (dried)
• pencil erasers
• rubber erasers
• plastic tubing (ends)
• faux graining tools
• popsicle sticks
• sponges
• rubber brushes
• rubber bands
• netting
• metal screening
• various hole punches
• various scissors including pinking shears
• stickers
• ear plugs
• fingerprints (her own)

Final Note on Margaret’s Illustration Techniques:

Sometimes she uses Photoshop to assemble her images. It’s easier than cutting and pasting things together like they used to do in the “olden days.”