I grew up on the beautiful island of Bermuda. Everywhere you looked, there was color … pink sand (yes, it’s true), blue skies and big puffy white clouds, crystal clear water, never-ending greenery and pastel colored houses with white roofs. This is where my love for color started - it makes sense then that those colors would find their way into my clay monoprints.

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Most people don't know what a clay monoprint really is. It's a totally unique form of art that's hard to wrap your mind around, until you actually see it for yourself. It's the perfect marriage between clay and printmaking, created and developed by my late husband, Mitch Lyons, over 50 years ago. He didn't claim to be the first clay printer though; he gave credit to the cavemen and their wall paintings. Essentially, it's the process of creating a two-dimensional piece of art from a slab of clay that has had colored slips and textures added to it.

 

Mitch used to say, “If I knew what I was going to do, I wouldn’t do it.” It wasn’t until years later that I understood what he meant.  It’s all about the discovery. 

 

That’s how I approach the clayprinting process, with no end product in mind. I simply  begin by loading up my clay slab with textures and colors, and adding layer upon layer. I like to gently scrape off certain areas to see what lies beneath the surface. This is where the stories begin to emerge and the magic really happens.