Joining Monk(s)hood are two additional prints, finished and framed and not a minute too soon!

Monk(s)hood
Aconitum napellus

Insomnia
Wolfsbane
Aconitum lycoctonum

The Night Wolf
Women’s Bane

Artist’s Statement

Recently added to the current series, As Potent as a Charm, are three new prints based on plants of the genus, Aconitum. There are over 250 species of Aconitum, known as “the queen of poisons,” with common names for individual varieties derived from mythology, literature and appearance. The English name, Monkshood, describes the signature hood-like shape of the flower. Other names refer to its lethal qualities, including women’s bane, wolfsbane and mousebane. While humans and wolves require contact to succumb to the power of Aconitum, purportedly the smell alone is enough to kill a mouse.

The exhibited pieces are linoleum block prints. Initial drawing and design decisions are a large part of the process – determining the balance of light and dark and the ‘readability’ of the work is integral to the success of the final image. After the drawing is reversed and transferred to the block a variety of tools are used to cut the surface, leaving only the area to be printed. The relief prints in this series were hand printed with oil-based ink on Strathmore 500 Series vellum paper. Because the printing is done by hand, varying pressure can add tonal effects to the final image.

The series title, As Potent as a Charm, is a phrase taken from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, Rappaccini’s Daughter. The title character, Beatrice, tends her father’s botanical collection of lovely, yet lethal plants. While ‘as potent as a charm’ refers to the specimens, it could just as well describe Beatrice who, as the story progresses, becomes just as lovely and lethal as the flowers she nurtures.