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Each time a new artist is invited to Wildwood Press we expect the first visit to be a week in which we all “play”. It is a time during which an artist learns what it is that Wildwood Press does, and in turn we learn what it will take to meet the challenge of the artist’s primary work.
In the late summer of 2008, after nearly two years of correspondence and preparation, Anne Appley arrived at Wildwood Press in St. Louis to “play.” But within an hour of beginning, Anne had identified the strategy that would lead to the five extraordinary works – layers of sheer handmade paper saturated front and back with color.
As is her practice, Anne deconstructs her subject. When she arrived at Wildwood Press, she knew that Sweet Pea would be her focus. But working like a site-specific artist, Anne quickly grew the project. For example, when she learned that our handmade paper was made using Kozo fibers gathered from the fast growing Mulberry tree, she had the jumping off point to create the work Mulberry. In this case, the Mulberry tree’s life cycle became her deconstructed subject – from the fragile pink spring stems of the greenest leaves and the white blossoms kissed with yellow to the ripening berries and the bright yellow leaves of fall. Mulberry is composed of six double-paged panels of kozo paper each printed front and back, capturing the saturated colors of Anne’s illusive and elegant work.
And so it would evolve with the works Stone, Red/Green and Mother E. By the time Anne completed her week of “play” five amazing pieces were completed. And Anne Appleby moved into the company of the great colorists who have visited and printed at Wildwood Press.
Maryanne Ellison Simmons
Publisher and Master Printer
