Daryl Storrs' Landscape Dreams exhibit is now showing in Central Vermont Medical Center’s lobby art gallery. “Golden Fields, Sunset” pastel (below) is part of this exhibit.
Berlin, Vt -- Daryl V. Storrs received a B.A. from Middlebury College in 1979. From 1980 to 1982 she was assistant to Sabra Field. In 1982, she enrolled as a graduate student at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and graduated in 1984 with a MFA in Printmaking. In addition to her studies, Daryl taught figure drawing, woodcut, typography and mono-printing at Hampshire College.
“Creating a landscape, breaking it down and then building it back up in layers is, for me, an exciting path to a final image. The creation of handmade multiples (prints) has always appealed to both my artistic and practical sensibilities,” explains Storrs.
“My woodcuts focus on the texture and colors of the landscape. I begin by drawing a landscape in color. Based on that drawing each color is then individually transferred onto a block and then cut away with carving tools. The image frequently changes as I cut and proof the blocks but I trust that my original inspiration will remain. After cutting, the interlocking color blocks are printed in successive layers onto handmade Japanese paper. I use highly pigmented, environmentally safe inks. Some images are printed using 5–6 separate blocks and even more colors. I am able to make multiples (more than one print), but every woodcut print is a little different from the next since each one is made by hand.”
Vermont is the place that inspired most of the woodcuts in The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center exhibit. A few blocks were carved in Tuscany where Daryl participated in two woodcut workshops.
“Painting en plein air with pastels is something that I also enjoy,” said the artist. “It balances the rigorous planning of printmaking because it is a more spontaneous and immediate approach to interpreting a landscape. Working in pastels is also a great excuse to be outside during the warmer months. There is a certain magic in remaining in one place for an extended period of time as the weather, air, and light changes.”
Most of the pastels on exhibit at CVMC focus on Lake Champlain, Southwest Harbor Maine and images from her mind.
In 1985 she started “Daryl V. Storrs Artworks Ltd.”, wholesaling her lithographic jewelry and original prints to galleries and stores nationwide. Her jewelry is on sale in the gift shop at UVMHN-CVMC.
The show will run through April 10, 2015.