Paper Dawn Painting

It was a lot of fun creating this images using cut paper to form the trees with the yellow sun coming through the trees. This was inspired by the early morning play of birds that I see each dawn in the forest. This image is one of peaceful happiness and contentment. I choose the background as a play of colors and pattern of yellow and red hints of color, while the dark trees are outlined against it. I used a handmade lakota paper to make the trees and applied them to the monotype/painted background on Stonehenge paper. These are all archival papers. A "monotype" is an original, one of a kind, "painterly" form of fine art printmaking. I like to use water-mixable oil paint, although there are a number of inks, and paints which can be used. I most often print my images using archival Stonehenge paper, which start on a plexi-glass plate; then hand-pulled using an intaglio press. My finished work has a very smooth surface with brilliant colors and gives the viewer a feeling of energy, using overlapping patterns with repeated shapes. I often create monotypes because no two are ever alike and they have an unpredictable nature, which I enjoy working with.There is a surprise with each image on the plate, as it changes on the press. See my web site: for a full demonstration of my process in photos under the "techniques" link on my home page.