WOMEN'S HERITAGE MONTAGE SERIES

Medicine Woman. Etching image size 16 x 20."

Today I am very pleased to have found an etching completed several years ago, and which is completely sold out. My single remaining print has been in storage. This would be an image I would like to offer as another edition of giclee prints in a different size, about 12 x 15."

Medicine Woman was created to honor women who practice both traditional and non-traditional healing arts. Women, as food gatherers learned about the healing properties of various plants, and so began the practice. Many traditions developed over thousands of years, often including magical lore and rituals in the ways of applying their knowlege.

In the middle ages, men tried to wrest this knowlege and the powers of healing away from women, sometimes naming such wise women as witches, even persecuting and killing them if they persisted in practicing healing. Midwifery was one of the last of the healing arts permitted by women in that period. Male doctors began to be the only people left who had medical knowlege.

It was not until the 1800s that the medical establishment opened a medical school to a woman. Elizabeth Blackwell applied at 28 schools before being accepted at Geneva/Hobart College in New York in 1847, when she was sponsored by Dr. Joseph Warrington, who was highly esteemed, and probably because no one dared offend him.

Images and Writing are the exclusive Copyright of Ruth Zachary.

WHAT INSPIRES AN ARTIST TO CREATE?

And Who Shall Parent Our Children? Etching. Image about 9 x 12."

A Marbelizing technique was used in this etching. The method is the same as described in the previous post.

The idea was one I had pondered about for a long time. I had worked for a long while as a social worker with deprived families, and encountered more teen age mothers than I liked. So many young mothers love their children, and yet they are still children themselves. Often they have not had time to prepare to be responsible for themselves, let alone their small children.

My own sorrow for their problems cried out for some way to vent itself, and using images was an effective one for me. I did not judge them, but wanted to draw attention to the problem, so perhaps, someone viewing the image would try to intervene and one more young girl would not get pregnant.

Art, for me is not simply about aesthetics. The emotional feeling stimulated by a situation or idea empowers the making of art.

With poetry, this seems true as well. There may be a direct connection between emotion and being able to express an art form. When trying to write, having a strong emotion about the subject enables a connection with the intuitive side, so that words (and images) come into consciousness, and serve almost as a vocabulary for expression. Images seem to be the first language... the preverbal state of awareness.

I am very interested to know, do other kinds of stimuli inspire other artists to express themselves? What are the conditions under which your best art work or writing occur?

All images and writing are the sole property of Ruth Zachary.

WOMEN'S HERITAGE SERIES

Eirene, Guardian of Peace. Etching. 9x12" approx.

The Greek goddess of Peace was the topic of this piece. The
Romans called her Pax, and celebrated her with a procession once a year.

My interpretation shows her as an angel protecting the earth from a bird of prey, symbolizing war or chaos which disturbs peace for world inhabitants.

The marbelized texture on the earth and in the background was created by floating thinned asphaltum on water, and placing the dry un-etched plate carefully on the surface. The tarry substance stuck to the clean plate surface, but did not adhere to it where it was wet.

After the asphaltum was dry, the plate was spray painted, blocked out in areas intended to remain white, and etched in progressive stages. The successive blocking out and etching in stages allowed the acid to make different depths in the surface of the plate. Deeper areas held more ink, printing as darks in the resulting print.

I would be happy to answer any questions not answered, about this process.


All images and writing are the sole property of Ruth Zachary.

Changing Woman. Hand Colored Etching. Approx 6x10."

This etching was one of the Women's Heritage series. Changing Woman is a Native American Deity who, like the earth and the moon, become old and then young again. Humanity also, ages, but in so many ways is able to experience a return to youth. She holds a universal symbolism.

The Women's Heritage Series contains references from women's myths, history and spirituality. Often there are Earth - centered themes included. The images are presented in overlapping scenes and people and include many symbols from various multicultural Sources of Women's Origins. Although the etchings are not available, limited edition giclee prints are, printed on heavy archival paper with colorfast inks.

Surround yourself with symbols from your source.

Images and writing are the exclusive property of Ruth Zachary.

RUTH ZACHARY ART

Cygnet. Etching. 9x12" approx.

This etching was inspired by my daughter, who, like so many teenagers felt inadequate and unnattractive even though they are anything but.
This was an image responding to the "ugly duckling" theme... the swan who will one day emerge as a beautiful creature.

The reversed image is a kind of reflection, a metaphor for both my daughter's and my own.

Technically the image was executed as a typical line drawing with a stylus through ground, etched, and then in a second stage, a spray-paint "aquatint" method was employed. This involves etching the plate, and painting out lighter areas successively with asphaltum, to achieve a series of gradations in tone. The longer the exposure to acid, the deeper the pores in the plate, which hold ink for printing.

In this print, two tones of intaglio ink were rubbed into the plate with tarlatan. A rainbow colored charged roller was rolled over the surface. The plate was then placed on the press bed, wet paper was placed over that, under blankets and all were rolled through the press under great pressure. This forced the wet paper to pick up the inks, both on the surface and in the crevasses. Pulling the print paper away, carefully, resulted in an intaglio print.

If anyone has questions about process, please use this blog to ask, and I will answer. I promise not to use any information left on my site for anything other than contacts about my own shows, new work, etc.

About 25 etchings were made, each with a different color combination. I am not able to use my press at present, but I do offer limited editions of giclee reproductions of my etchings for those who relate to the images. These are printed with archival inks on heavy matte paper made for
printing art.


All art images and writing are property of Ruth Zachary.

INTAGLIO HAND MADE PRINTS

Damselflight. Etching. 12x12" approx.


Judith Angell Meyer asked a question about coloring an etching. For those who do not know
about etching, this is a brief description.

Most of the color in my etchings were created using intaglio inks. My etching images were made on zinc plates, with a combination of fine lines and dots etched at varied depths to hold the inks, which are about like oil colors in texture, and usually very dark in value. My method was to push the thick inks down into the crevasses, carefully separating the areas of color. The surface of the plate was then selectively rubbed with tarlatan, a stiff material which clears the smooth levels of the plate to reveal the light values.

The paper was wet when placed over the plate. Thick blankets were placed over that, and the press bed was rolled between rollers under great pressure. This forced the image up so it was absorbed by the paper. The print was pulled off the plate and dried between blotters.

Some of my complicated etchings were remarqued with colored pencils to heighten and separate the colors. Another method of adding color was to roll as many as three transparent colors onto the surface of the plate over the intaglio colors. (See Damselflight)

I use the past tense here because my studio is not set up for printing at this time.


All images and writings are the exclusive property of Ruth Zachary.

Earth Woman

Etching size 9x12"


This image was one of a series of Women's
Heritage montages created in the etching medium.
Earth as a Goddess was the theme here.
Later the piece was used as the book cover
for Diane Stein's Stroking the Python.

Does anyone have questions or comments
about this medium or about the images?

MONTAGE IMAGERY

Arachne's Web. Photograph, Slide Overlay.

Both of these images use a montage approach,
with combined imagery.








These compositions present different aspects
to express a single idea, and generally, a single
moment in time.

This image was created around 1985.
Arachne was a Greek Goddess.

Wolf Totem
Mixed Media Painting,
Collage, Drawing, and Painting.

This piece was created in the early 1990s.

This illustrates the idea
of a woman who identifies
with the character of wolves,
and relates to the persona
of the wolf as a helpful
symbol for her life.

Both are works from
the Women's Heritage Series.