Mary Mac

Mary Mac is a Printmaking artist who received her professional training at Valdosta State University in Georgia. She continues to take printmaking and other art classes at the Kirkland Arts Center here in Kirkland.

Mary Mac has created "A day off for Art," which gives the gift of a free afternoon learning printmaking to parents of children with autism and special needs. The artist also participates in "Art for All," Print Zero, Seattle Print Arts, Kirkland Arts Center, Pratt, and the KAC Printmakers.

She is a brand new member of the Parklane Gallery in January. Currently she has work hanging in the Kirkland Art Center skylight room, Has at Parkplace, and the Contemporary Art Exhibit at Parklane Gallery. She is working on new prints for the Seattle Print Arts "10," the KAC printshow at Gary Manuel in Belltown, and "A Room Full of Sisters" at the C Art Gallery.

My work starts with time spent creating all the stencils that will go into my piece. I love cutting blades of grass, stems and flowers, legs and shoes, and folding up little skirts to prepare for the printing process. I then head to the studio where each stencil gets inked up and then assembled on an inked plate, a larger sheet of damp paper is placed atop if at all, and it gets one pass through the press. What most amazes me about the printmaking process is how different the plate is from the finished piece. There is this magic that happens as the paper and the plate go through all that pressure, inks mix, shapes shift, and texture is created.