"Prints of Old Europe"

April 11– May 6, 2007
Opening Reception: Friday, April 13, 6—8:30 PM
Third Thursday Reception: April 19, 6—8 PM

Mary D. Ott's exhibit at Touchstone Gallery, "Prints of Old Europe," shows another dimension of her work. Traveling with a digital camera in hand, Ott captured images that she has made into original, hand-pulled prints.
Although the images are modern, her screen prints evoke a sense of history. Impressions of Crete are shown in overlays of colors and designs. Sunflowers from Slovenia glow in screen prints that incorporate oil paint and wax. Intaglios* present architectural details from the Czech Republic, France, Germany and Italy.** Intaglio refers to printmaking techniques in which an image is incised into the surface of a printing plate. The plate is then inked and the excess ink is carefully wiped from the plate. Finally the image is printed onto dampened paper using a printing press. Multiple copies may be made, each one inked and printed separately.
Ott uses a technique called "polymer intaglio" in which a photopolymer film is affixed to a copper printing plate. The image, contained on a transparency, is then transferred to the photopolymer film using ultraviolet light. The resulting photopolymer surface holds the ink and is wiped and printed like other intaglio plates, yielding a printed version of the image.
Touchstone Gallery
406 7th Street, NW, 2nd floor
Washington, DC 20004
202-347-2787
http://TouchstoneGallery.com