I enjoy working with many non-traditional mediums. I continue to learn and experiment with new materials and techniques. I also like to combine many techniques into one piece, which often makes it difficult to explain to someone exactly how something was created.

More than anything else in the creative process, I love the interplay of color and texture. I have spent countless hours photographing peeling paint and rusting metal. When I mix inks to begin printmaking, I often get sidetracked by marveling at the pigments on my palette, enjoying how the colors play off each other, wondering what will happen if I mix 2 unrelated colors into a blend with my brayer. Sometimes I think I could just mix colors forever and never begin the actual application of the color to plate or paper.

I also love to work in layers. I do this on my computer from within Photoshop, or more directly when creating collage with papers, cloth, and found objects. Transparency fascinates me, and I am intrigued by how a top layer will reveal or hide the colors and textures beneath it, or how the combined elements become so different from the original materials as they intersect and interact. Many artists are hesitant to learn how to use a computer in creating their work—but I see it as just another tool in my artist’s toolbox. This allows me to merge technology with traditional art-making methods, such as when I stick a traditional collage into my printer and print an image on top of it.

The techniques I employ include Solarplate Etchings, Overprinted Collages, Acrylic Skins, Printing on Handmade Papers, Collagraphs, Prints on Aluminum, Mixed Media, Polaroid Emulsion Lifts and Transfers, Linocuts and Monotypes. I have a large studio full of natural light, where I enjoy teaching others many of my techniques for art making. I hope you enjoy my work. You can contact me or find out more about my classes, and see more of my work, through my website: www.caroldunnart.com. Because of our recent cold weather, I included some pieces in this exhibit that remind me of warmer times and flowers waiting to bloom again. I hope you enjoy “Warmer Thoughts” with me.

“Playing to No One” started with a traditional collage of papers and cloth. I coated the collage with InkAid, then fed it through my printer to print the altered image of the violin player on the surface. The result is what I call an “Overprinted Collage.”

Watermark Café- February 2010

“Warmer Thoughts”

Carol  Dunn

457 Hanover Main Street

Baltic, CT 06330

860-822-8412

www.caroldunnart.com