Woodblock printmaking helps me to slow down and take notice – promoting a state of calm and focus, a feeling of being at home.
‘Welcome and ‘home’ are two of my favorite words, especially when combined. If someone greets me with a ‘welcome home’, I feel not only wanted, I feel wanted in a place of familiarity, trust, and love. It’s special to hear those words.
Nature will never utter a word to me literally, of course, yet I can still feel spoken to and at home in the out-of-doors anyway. Because to me, feeling at home is the feeling of connection and this is what I express in my woodblock prints. Whether my subject is a simple flower by the roadside, a grand star-filled sky, or an elusive patch of fog, all can be spectacular and worth paying attention to.
My hope is that through my art, nature might speak to you too. Our spinning blue planet is home to us all. Our time here is all too brief. Isn’t it amazing that we are even here?
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Mary Brodbeck (b. 1958) is a Michigan-based artist recognized for her graphic depictions of the Great Lakes watershed region. Inspired by her love of the out-of-doors and the aesthetics of Japan, her work in both print and film (Becoming Made, 2014) has garnered her acolytes and inclusion in many workshops, exhibitions, and collections throughout the USA and abroad. CV
KALAMAZOO, MI | May 12 – July 28 | Cross Current: East/West Woodblock Print Exhibition with Yoshisuke Funasaka at Kalamazoo Book Arts Center.
KALAMAZOO, MI | June 16 – 18 | 3-Day Introduction to Japanese Woodblock Printmaking at Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.
IOWA CITY, IA | July 10 – 15 | 5-Day Introduction to Japanese Woodblock Printmaking with Frogman’s Press at the University of Iowa.
GRAND MARAIS, MN | July 24 – 28 | 5-Day Introduction to Japanese Woodblock Printmaking at Grand Marais Art Colony.
FISH CREEK, WI | Oct 10 – 13 | 4-Day Introduction to Japanese Woodblock Printmaking at Peninsula School of Art. Registration is open.
Good Goods (Saugatuck, MI) – large selection on display through December
Synchronicity Gallery (Glen Arbor, MI) – large selection available through October
Hudson Gallery (Sylvania, OH) – ongoing large selection available
Copper Country Community Arts Center (Hancock, MI)
Grand Marais Art Colony (Grand Marais, MN)
* Original Woodblock Prints * Guest Lecturer and Instructor * Documentary Film * Note Cards *
©2023 Mary Brodbeck Productions LLC
