Shadowplay, University Galley, Pacific Lutheran University, Parkland, WA
February 21, 2024-March 20, 2024 Opening February 21, 5 to 7 pm
Open House Saturday March 2, 1-3 pm
Shadow drawings and Watercolor on Paper.
artist’s statement:
draw the edges of the shadow
trust your heart
trust the drawing
do what it’s telling you to do
draw what you see
I drew myself into existence
one shadow, one memory at a time
pulled at the edges of self
that I knew to be strong and true
maybe artists are hardest of themselves
we spend so much time in a state of critique
we sometimes forget the simple joy of a line
we forget how all the cadmiums sing together
how colors look different at 60 feet underwater
but they’re still there
Ink, watercolor, paper cut collage on 11 x 14 Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. Matted and framed 16 x 20. $900
Hibiscus, Spider Lily, Monkey Puzzle Euphorbia, Sugar Sweethearts, aka Chibichibi. Drawn and painted Plenchi Macamba #3A, Kralendijk, Bonaire
Ink and watercolor on 9 x 12 Strathmore Watercolor Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $750
Oleander, drawn at the Plenchi Macamba Bungalow Park, painted #3A, Kralendijk, Bonaire
ink and watercolor on 9 x 12 Strathmore Watercolor Paper, framed and matted 16 x 20. $750
Oleander, drawn at Plenchi Macamba Bungalow #4, painted at #3A, Kralendijk, Bonaire, while listening to lion fish hunters spin their tales.
Ink and watercolor on 9 x 12 Strathmore Watercolor Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $750
Desert Rose and Prickly Pear Cactus, drawn and painted at Plenchi Macamba #3A, Kralendijk, Bonaire. The brightly colored Trupials fill the air with color and song.
Ink and watercolor on 9 x 12 Strathmore Watercolor paper, matted and framed 16 x 20 $750
Agave, Aloe, Monkey Puzzle Euphorbia, drawn and painted at Plenchi Macamba #3A Kralendijk, Bonaire
With Drawing Assistance by Stacy Blocker.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $1100
Drawn in the African Savanna Exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, in October 2023. Color palette and rock design inspired by the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon.
Ink, watercolor and metallic on 12 x 16 on Hahnemuhle Bamboo paper, matted and framed 16 x 20 $900 on hold
Eggplant and Allium, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted next door at Presstidigitation, Seattle
Ink and Gansai watercolor on Hahnemuhle Bamboo paper, 12 x 16. matted and framed 16 x 20 $900
Downed evergreen boughs on volcanic rock, drawn on Wizard Island, Crater Lake National Park, painted in Tigard, Oregon, map inspiration Cenote’ Naharon.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $1100 sold
Lillies, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, and painted next door at Presstidigitation. My rule was to use the two paints that had the most volume left in their pan, behold hooker green and the birth of a crush on transparent oxide umber!
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $900 sold
Columbine, Zinnia and Dusty Miller, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, Seattle, painted in Tigard, Oregon.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $1100
Cherry tomatoes in a cage, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted next door at Presstidigitation, during a forest fire smog alert. Apparently I’ve fallen in love with Transparent Oxide Umber.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $1100
Allium, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted next door at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $900
Allium and Eggplant leaves, drawn at Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted next door at Presstidigitation.
Ink, watercolor, graphite, metallic watercolor and 23kt gold leaf on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $900
Sweet Pea, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted on my late brother’s birthday at Presstidigitation. I used 23 kt gold which I inherited from my grandfather’s sign painting/artist’s studio. (they’re hard to find in a digital image, but they’re tiny dots)
With Drawing Assistance for Stacy Blocker.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $1100
Drawn in the African Savanna Exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, painted at Presstidigitation. Color palette inspired by fishing floats and nets along the Barbary Coast Trail, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Fransisco.
Ink, watercolor and graphite on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $900 sold
Manzanita bush, drawn on the Cleetwood Cove Trail, while waiting for a boat tour to Wizard Island, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. Painted at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $1100
Zinnias, and a lily in a tomato cage, drawn at Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted at Presstidigitation. Inspired by the colors of Crater Lake National Park.
Ink and watercolor on 16 x 22 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 21 x 29. $1100
Lilies in tomato cages, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted next door at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20 .$1100
Rose Bush and Morning Glories (aka bind weed), drawn and painted at Presstidigitation. Week two of scuba lessons.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $1100 sold
Allium and Eggplant Leaves, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted next door at Presstidigitation. I used a glass stylus and masking fluid for much of the background, using a kind of Batik or Pysanky process.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $1100 sold
Cardoon, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, and painted next door at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 140 lb. paper, 8 x 8, matted and framed 9.5 x 9.5 $450
Drawn in the courtyard of the New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe and painted in Santa Fe.
Ink and watercolor on 140 lb. paper, 8 x 8, matted and framed 9.5 x 9.5 $450 sold
Drawn at Los Poblanos, Albuquerque, and painted in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Ink and watercolor on 140 lb. paper, 8 x 8, matted and framed 9.5 x 9.5 $450
Sage shadow, drawn at a Rest Area between Santa Fe and Taos along the Rio Grande, painted in the opposite kind of light in the rainy PNW at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 140 lb. paper, 8 x 8, matted and framed 9.5 x 9.5 $450
Drawn in Taos Plaza, New Mexico. Color palette inspired by a flower arrangement at San Francisco MOMA, and painted at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 140 lb. paper, 8 x 8, matted and framed 9.5 x 9.5 $450
Drawn in the courtyard of the New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, and painted in San Francisco. Color palette inspired by a mural in Chinatown.
Ink and watercolor on 140 lb. paper, 8 x 8, matted and framed 9.5 x 9.5 $450
Catalpa shadow drawn at the Sanctuary de Chimayo, New Mexico, painted at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 9 x 12 Strathmore Watercolor paper, framed and matted 16 x 20. $750
Drawn In the Rose Greenly garden, Los Poblanos, Albuquerque, New Mexico and painted on the grounds.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $900
Crocosmia, drawn at Greenlake’s Bathhouse Theater, painted at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $800
Ornamental grass drawn at Stubborn Twig Design Art Camp, Whidbey Island, WA, painted at Presstidigitation using my favorite cadmium combination.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $800
Cardoon, drawn in Jim’s Garden Bartlett, painted next door at Presstidigitation.
Ink and watercolor on 12 x 16 Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, matted and framed 16 x 20. $800
Ornamental grass, Columbine, rose bush, drawn at Stubborn Twig Design Art Camp, Whidbey Island, WA. Painted at Presstidigitation.
Featuring some of the limited edition books currently available from the press. Please enquire about purchase by emailing mare@mkimberlypress.com
Limited edition boxed set of zines…trial stories for an upcoming book Storytime With Mare. Mosaic of box lids, no two alike. Stones are collaged proofs and offcuts.
A series of 3 zines, including 2 short stories, one of drawings of rocks. one little wood veneer dog (illustrating a key character in a short story) Limited to 50 copies. $25 a set
16 Prints for our 16th anniversary (in 2000) Reduction Linoleum Block Prints. Currently available only as a sewn paper quilt. $150
Artists' Party Games, 1995
These hand colored linoleum blocks were printed on Magnani Incisioni, the Ballroom printshop of the historic Kingdom House in Jerome, Arizona. 7.75” w x 7.5” h The edition is limited to 50 copies. $150
Artists' Party Games, 1995
These hand colored linoleum blocks were printed on Magnani Incisioni, the Ballroom printshop of the historic Kingdom House in Jerome, Arizona. 7.75” w x 7.5” h The edition is limited to 50 copies. $150
Artists' Party Games, 1995
These hand colored linoleum blocks were printed on Magnani Incisioni, the Ballroom printshop of the historic Kingdom House in Jerome, Arizona. 7.75” w x 7.5” h The edition is limited to 50 copies. $150
Linoluem block printed selections from William Blake’s the Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Reduction Lino flames and carved text. Machine sewn onto ribbon. $40
photopolymer plates, from pen and ink drawings
Pen and ink drawing, reproduced with photopolymer plates.
Mixed media artist's books
These paintings were made for my show with Julie Paschkis at the Seattle Art Museum Sales/Rental Gallery, May 2- August 4, 2019. Julie and I are both storytellers and have many visual and design concepts in common. I would say we both love color and pattern for one. obvious!
The show is titled Abundance. We sat around eating pizza pie and chocolate pie on a warm night last August thinking up titles. We then retreated to our studios and each of us illustrated the same words, or concepts.
Paintings will go to their new homes as they are sold and new ones will appear during the 13 weeks the show is up, so I’ve made this page so you can see the full body of work. All are available for purchase through the Seattle Art Museum Sales Gallery (unless previously sold)
http://seattleartmuseum.org/visit/calendar/events?EventId=63628
This is a word you either love or hate. I love it, I think my friend Julie is “not fond of it.” Pugs are adorable, I have a huge garden in north Seattle, @jimsgardenbartlett and much to the chagrin of my family, I’ve mixed lots of flowers into the vegetables’ area. I’m also working on acknowledging that there are other dogs in the world besides DALMATIANS!
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100 SOLD
Tea was the prompt. I have a small collections of tea cups which were my aunties’ or grandmother’s, and I love to soak at the spa with my lady friends.
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100
Ok, I went rogue, no prompt, except we both love folk tales. I teach at PLU and one of the joys of teaching at an institution invested in the liberal arts is having other disciplines teach in the art department classrooms. There is a Norwegian language and Sami culture class down from my office that I have enjoyed eavesdropping on this term.
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100
The prompt: Gluttony, although there is a thin line between abundance and gluttony. I think of this as Ravenna Park. I have a close friend who I’ve known since high school ( I think of her as my sister) and we often walk our dogs there. She has a favorite spot on a hill with violets, and our dogs love to get us in misadventures with squirrels.
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100
Don’t we all someone like this? the prompt was Bitter.
There is an underlying text of calligraphed rants under the melon vines and foliage…it’s obscured, but has text like “mom liked you better” “you didn’t say I love you until I said I loved you first” “you ate my last popsicle” “thanks a lot” you get the idea. I’m not fond of eating bitter melon, but I love the way it looks and the texture of the gourd/squash/melon.
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100
Prompt: Abundance
SO MUCH PURSLANE in my garden. It came in with a load of zoo doo from Woodland Park. I eat it, give it away, compost it. It’s high in amino acids and tastes a little lemony, and looks beautiful but is so happy in my garden it’s a pest. I’ve been working on turning my nemesis into my muse.
Acrylic on watercolor paper, marbles and printed papercuts, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100
Inspired by an overwhelming number of rabbits in my neighborhood and garden, fighting hares and my family. Acrylic on wood, 20 x 20 x 2 deep. $1100 SOLD
Prompt: Demeter Goddess of Bread, also the story of the seasons
You can’t talk about Demeter without talking about her daughter Persephone too. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, we hear about a trap of 100 flowers, which covered a portal to hell. As Persephone enjoys a beautiful day of picking flowers with her friends, she reaches down to pick a flower near the portal and out springs Hades and she is kidnapped. I think of this as the side of a vase or urn, depicting the moment before things turned upside down for Persephone and Demeter. It looks great with the Demeter’s Lament piece.
Opaque ink on BFK, 22 x 30, $1200
After Persephone is taken to Hell to be Hades wife, Demeter can not find her and is in a great period of mourning. All the world ‘s foliage dies. The landscape is bleak (but still beautiful). Once a compromise is reached and Persephone is allowed to visit her mother, spring and summer return. This looks great with Persephone’s Trap.
Acrylic paint on Rives BFK. 22 x 30 $1200
The prompt was “tastes like summer in my mouth,” which was inspired my a judge’s commentary on Iron Chef. Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100 SOLD
The prompt was “a favorite quote.” This is a quote from the silkscreen artist Sister Mary Corita Kent, she’s on of my favorites! Julie illustrated the Bread and Roses Quote. Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100 SOLD
Prompt: Abundance
If you have flowers and books, you have almost everything. just my opinion.
There is a little library at the edge of my garden which my father made for my mother, and she painted it with flowers. Birds like to perch on it and watch me garden, and then follow after I’ve turned the soil for snacks. I’m hot for painting birds, this is kind of a mix between a jay and a grackle, but I named it after the grackle’s call, and included tiny images of things grackles eat, bats, frogs, mice and acorns.
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 21 x 21, 2019 $1100 SOLD
Acrylic paint on wood panel. 18 x 18 inches. 2019 $1100 SOLD
Collected Verse
Carved linoleum, embroidery, collage and ink on paper. Bound in shirt-cloth covered boards with exposed coptic binding. Rives BFK, Washi, antique postmarks and stamps, paper doilies. Signed and numbered by the artist. 5" x 7.25" Edition of 31, 20 of which are for sale.
I started working on this book in 2011, and the nascent idea was a commonplace book. I collected little slogans and bits of poetry to include in the book. I cut a few of them in linoleum. Life happens, things change and my project changed forms too. Those first blocks didn't seem appropriate anymore, but they'll appear later in a different project. I love the word phant'sy. It's the archaic form of fantasy, and as a story teller I try to follow my own curiosities and fancies.
The book now chronicles my journey of the loss of several family members, celebrations of life, the birth of two new family members, and the garden I inherited. Many of our verses are collected in one vessel. The majority of images are linoleum cuts, there are some collages and letterpress text. I wrote the poems, except for the piece from Walt Whitman. The book is bound in my father's shirts. Special binding in your loved one's garment available on request.
$400 please inquire about availability.
carved linoleum text, ink on paper, visible stitching. a child plays a game with their grandparent
Washi, antique postmarks and stamps, paper doily, letterpresson paper.
Walt Whitman text from Oh Me! O Life! Leaves of Grass. I first read Leaves of Grass as a freshman in 1978, in a class called "Poetry and the Mystical Experience," at Pacific Lutheran University, where I am now a professor. A web of intertwined stories and a pattern which has appeared in almost every sketchbook I have ever owned. Linoleum blocks.
Tom or Tommy to his friends. Firefighter, Fire Lookout, Picnic Lover, Basketball Fan, Storyteller, Brother by Choice, Friend, part time Comic Book Character. Depicted in linoleum block print.
Relief printed repurposed prints and papers using pierced foam pads and glitter collagraphs as printing plates. Embellished with silk, wool and cotton thread. Baseball stitched come and go binding. The book can be hung on the wall as shown or held in the hand as an accordion book. Issued in a cloth covered lipped clamshell box. Series of 3 large scale unique books, and 10 - 10" x 10" pocket books.
the poem reads:
you in the field
and me in our bed
alone
blessed memory
an unbroken circle
everywhere and nowhere
horizon line
anticipation
if the moon rises tonight
we'll simultaneously gaze on her face
if the moon rises tonight
you will return
20"w x 30"h, 5"square pages, come and go binding, issued in lipped clamshell box. $1500
30"w x 40"h, 5"square pages, come and go binding, issued in lipped clamshell box. In the collection of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
glitter collagraph overprinted etching. silk, cotton and wool embroidery.
glitter collagraph overprinted pressure print. silk, cotton and wool embroidery.
one of a series of 10, 2.5" square pages, come and go binding. each book is slightly different, two sided. $75
one of a series of 10, 2.5" square pages, come and go binding. each book is slightly different, two sided. $75
one of a series of 10, 2.5" square pages, come and go binding. each book is slightly different, two sided. $75
one of a series of 10, 2.5" square pages, come and go binding. each book is slightly different, two sided. $75
I have repurposed printed materials from recycle bins, including offcuts from other projects, proof prints, monotypes, relief and letterpress and things that catch my eye. They are collaged and embroidered using silk, cotton, wool and linen threads. Each one is unique. Price range $60-$600 depending on scale and framing options. Please email inquiries.
overprinted etching, monotype collage. embroidered with cotton and silk. sold
monotypes overprinted with photopolymer relief plates, embroidered with silk sold
relief printed "pennies" stitched onto monoprinted background. size 10" x 14" sold
monotypes, digital photo, antique marbled paper "pennies," sewn on acrylic ink painted background, with silk thread. 10" x 20" $450 unframed $500 framed
overprinted letterpress, stitched with silk onto monotype background. 8 x 10 $90 unframed $150 framed
works in progress ~ studio board
A collaboration between Charly Bloomquist and Mare Blocker. Non-traditional photographs were curated by Charly and interpreted by Mare. Stitched, cut and punctured paper mark making, multiple signature sewn on photograph tapes in folded Revere paper cover. Letterpress title and colophon pages. Signed by the artists. Series of 13, each unique. Please email inquiries.
puncture drawing with non-traditional photographs.
multiple signatures sewn on photographic strips, embroidered cover. Revere paper.
cut paper, non-traditional photography.
non-traditional photography with embroidery
multiple signatures sewn on photographic strips, embroidered cover. Revere paper.
non-traditional photography with embroidery, wood veneer
non-traditional photography with embroidery, painted paper thread
non-traditional photography with embroidery
I have always been drawn to illustrated dictionaries. I love their little pictures, charts and lists of cities and places. In the fall of 2016, I began passing out linoleum blocks to print and book artists around the country. Some were invited directly, some accepted my invitations made on social media. They were invited to carve a word and illustration for My Beloved Community Dictionary, no letter or word was assigned, it was a word potluck. Poets were given a prompt and I have carved their blocks. I have printed most of the sheets and will continue to print through this fall.
What began as a celebration of my fortieth anniversary of making books, has now turned into a piece documenting the social and political climate of the last year and a half. It illustrates the dynamic nature of dictionaries and the fluidity of language. In the spirit of George Bataille’s formless dictionary, the words will be collated in relationships rather than alphabetical order, and I intend to hold small community gatherings to teach the non-adhesive binding I am using, to all those interested.
Each of the contributing artists and poets (107 as of June 1, 2018 plus me) will receive a copy of the book in flat sheets and 30 additional copies will be sold to cover production costs. Contributions are closed.
I anticipate distribution will begin sometime fall 2018. The pre-production price of the flat sheets, printed double-sided, is 200$ and the sewn version is $400. This price is good until January 1, 2019 or when they are out of print, whichever comes first.
A series of prints and artist's books inspired by the Palouse Prairies. I allowed myself 100 parent sheets of Rives BFK, six 8 x 10 photopolymer relief plates, and a limited number of ink colors. I printed almost every day for 6 weeks, cutting, layering, reprinting, and from that pile of prints this work emerged.
embroidered relief monoprint, collage, accordion bound book. one of a kind $600
embroidered paper, antique marbled paper, digital photographs, washi, silk thread
embroidered relief monoprint, washi and digital photograph collage, accordion bound book. one of a kind $600
embroidered washi, marbled and wheat paper collage
embroidered relief monoprint, collage, accordion bound book. one of a kind $600
20 come and go accordion books make up this installation. Shown at the Pendleton Center for the Arts.
Embossed aluminum charms.
Turned edges with marbled paper backs and hanging string. 4.25 x 5.5 inches (5 available-backings vary-but all from the same patterned sheet) $45 each includes shipping
Edges embellished with copper foil tape. Hanging ribbons, embossed, painted. About 4 x 5.75 inches. (4 painted hearts, 2 unpainted hearts, 1 hand currently available) $40 each includes shipping
Please email mare@mkimberlypress.com to order
mixed media illustrations.
A place to hold little videos of my work
Inspired by How Urvashi Was Won, a five act play by the classical Sanskrit author Kalidasa. Mare Blocker created an artist’s book, using the carousel book structure, commissioned by the University of Washington Special Collections for the Just One Look Exhibit. Filmed by Ben Laurance, Narrated by Mare Blocker, Produced by Trial and Error Productions, Seattle.
This is a film I designed the sets for. I envisioned the wooden scrims like a tunnel book. Each scrim was 4 x 8 feet! (they look so small on screen) Set design collaboration with Timothy Firth, Produced by Trial and Error Productions!
Painted Backdrops, Prop and Set design, in collaboration with the Dream Team! Timothy Firth, Ben Laurance and Lauren Dudley. The backdrops are painted paper 42 x 60…some of which are available for purchase. email enquires. Produced by Trial and Error Productions, Seattle
I painted Backdrops on canvas, wooded props, the flat puppets and some set design in collaboration with the production team listed in credits. Produced by Trial and Error Productions, Seattle Enjoy!
