Featured Artist Anne Silber

Hand-printed serigraphs by Anne Silber are meticulously created with layers of stencils made by hand and oil-based ink. See more of this artist’s work by visiting her website.

 

 

I am a fine art printmaker, working exclusively in the medium of hand-printed limited edition serigraphs. I was first introduced to the medium when I studied art at Cornell University; I quickly became drawn to the medium and the idea of creating original art in multiples.

 

 

I love working with color and color relationships—sometimes rich and sensual, sometimes subtle and complex. Many of my pieces start with my desire to work with a particular tone or combination of colors that “strike my fancy,” or an observed shadow or reflection that interests me.

 

 

All of my serigraphs start with a precise pencil sketch, either done from life or from a photo I have taken. I then hand cut a stencil (traced from my sketch) for each color that will be printed, usually between twelve to twenty stencils per edition.

 

 

The sheets are all printed with the first color, set to dry, and the stencil is changed on the silkscreen and ready to add the next layer of color. I mix my (oil-based) inks with a large amount of a transparent base, so that new tones are created by the layering of colors.

 

 

Carefully planned from the outset, this creates an effect not unlike well-controlled watercolors.

 

 

Working in the realm of still life allows the luxury of control to create a small, ordered universe, with all elements carefully chosen and arranged.

 

 

In addition to my aforementioned love of color, many of my works also explore the possibilities of light and shadow, with shadows becoming as much an interesting and integral part of the composition as the objects casting them.

 

 

And my experimenting with degrees of transparency and opacity has also led to my interest in using glass and ceramic objects in my still lifes, and the challenge of recreating their particular textures and shadows.

 

 

I also enjoy working with landscapes, inspired by the beautiful color relationships and rhythms found in nature. Some of my editions are of the wonderful autumn foliage of New England and scenes of Boston, where I have lived for most of my adult life.

 

 

I have also been very lucky to have been able to travel to many foreign countries over the years, and these travels have inspired a variety of cityscapes and landscapes, visual mementos of my travels around the world.

 

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