STORY BEHIND THE ART OF KATHLEEN FOLINO

20th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists & The Horticultural Society of New York

Crabapple

Malus cv.

I had wanted to make etchings for years but was never able to find classes near enough to where I live to make that dream possible. About three years ago I heard about a process called solar plate etching. Similar in outcome to copper plate etching, it is a less toxic way to achieve the graphic quality I was looking for.

From the first time I used the process I had a vision of the kind of work I wanted to do. The most important benefit of the solar plate etching for me is that it allows the retention of the quality of the original drawing.

It took quite a while to get to where I thought I wanted to go in printmaking and I learned a lot about letting go of preconceived ideas along the way, probably partly because I have been the only representational artist working with primarily abstract artists. Crabapples was the first of the pieces that I did that I felt came close to my initial vision.

The crabapples themselves were growing in a lovely garden outside the building in Boston where I work. They were particularly lush that year and I was and continue to be really interested aesthetically in the complexity and bursting life of extravagantly productive plants. To me they represent the irrepressibility of life in general, something to marvel at.

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Read more about this artist’s work: 18th Annual International