ABOUT PRISCILLA DU PONT
Inspiration
Inspired by "the great outdoors", Priscilla spends her time in beautiful Blue Hill in Downeast, Maine and grew up in the "Wyeth Country" of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Her childhood was surrounded by a menagerie of pets - dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, horses. Summers were spent on the rocky beaches of Maine playing in the tide pools discovering a myriad of creatures. Today, Priscilla treasures traveling and gardening. All of these inputs are are evident in her art with collections incorporating Blue Hill Bay beach treasures, farm animals, woodland fauna, flowers, animals of India, zoo animals and more. Welcome to her world!
Craftsmanship
Priscilla block prints at her kitchen counter in her small cottage overlooking the bay. Not quite as basic as the potato printing we all did as children, Priscilla starts out designing on paper and transfers her sketches to the block. She then carves the block to represent her sketch. Paint is applied to the block and printed on the fabrics that make up her varied products.
Driving Force
Block printing has been called "perfectly imperfect" much like the idea of "Wabi Sabi: perfection in imperfection". With every step of the process there is a mystery as to what will be created. Will the sketch represent the image seen in the mind's eye? Will the picture be transferred as desired? No carving is ever perfect nor is the print. Consequently, each print is slightly unique and different. What will the ultimate result be? There is excitement at each step to see what your work creates. You never quite know what to expect and that's the fun of block printing!