daryl v storrs
photo credit: sally mccay
it is the vibrancy of daryl’s work that is immediately so arresting. it is what stopped me in my tracks the very first time i saw her work in 2002, when i moved to vermont and participated in my first art/craft show in the state.
daryl has been a printmaker for 35 years. First introduced to etching in college, she loved the various steps involved in creating a metal plate. The ability to make multiple works of art also appealed to her practical side. after college she apprenticed with Sabra Field and learned the art of woodcuts. she was inspired to return to school after two years of working and earned a masters in printmaking from UMass Amherst.
daryl’s original woodcuts or linocuts are cut from shina plywood or linoleum. Based on her drawing, each color is individually transferred onto a block, and is then cut away with carving tools. After cutting, the interlocking color blocks are printed in successive layers onto Japanese paper using highly pigmented, environmentally safe inks. Some of the images are printed from 5-6 separate blocks and use as many as 9 or 10 colors. multiples are able to be made, but every picture is a bit different from the next as each one is made by hand.
these are pictures of daryl involved in the steps to create the woodcuts:
and now some of the finished work:
amazing, wouldn’t you say? daryl has an exhibition of this work happening right now from:
Feb 15 – April 10 Reflections of the Vermont Landscape; Woodcuts and Pastel Paintings. http://www.cvmc.org/about-cvmc/cvmc-art-gallery
Come view Daryl’s exhibit! Jewelry available in the gift shop.
Central Vermont Medical Center 130 Fisher Road Berlin, VT 05602
a digression just occurred to acquaint you with daryl’s woodcuts. to resume, daryl returned to Vermont after completing her masters and waitressed briefly to pay the bills. she started making paper earrings and selling them to customers when they saw her wearing them in the restaurant. This began the jewelry business and thankfully, she says, ended her waitressing career. During this time she applied to the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH and was awarded a six week printmaking residency.
daryl moved to Huntington, Vermont 23 years ago and renovated an old barn next to her house which now serves as her beautiful studio. today, her time is divided between making woodcuts, jewelry and pastels, all of which focus on the Vermont landscape.
locations close to home are largely where daryl focuses her work–a blueberry farm, a hilltop dairy farm, the Mount Philo Inn overlooking the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain. these are all places where she can relax, draw and reflect without too much distraction.
When the weather is good, the pastels are first sketched outside on location by drawing the predominant elements of the landscape with vine charcoal. she will freely change and delete anything within her 360 degree view as the landscape being created gains a life of its own. occasionally she’ll work from a photograph but once the basic elements are drawn, away goes the photo and she allows the pastels to speak.
and here are some of the fabulous, arresting pastels that daryl creates:
in addition to the current woodcut exhibition above, here are more ways to find daryl:
web site: http://www.darylstorrs.com/
Daryl V. Storrs Artworks
235 Bridge Street
Huntington, Vermont 05462
802-434-5040
email: dstorrs@gmavt.net
upcoming show:
March 20 – 22 Paradise City Arts Festival, Marlborough, MA
Original woodcuts, pastels and jewelry. http://paradisecityarts.com/showlist.html
Commissions
Do you have a special view in mind? Daryl is available for commissions. Please contact her at dstorrs@gmavt.net for more information.
and two more of my favorite of daryl’s works:
daryl has been a member of the vermont arts community for almost a quarter century. because art matters (BAM VT) please support this prolific and highly talented vermont artist. buy local. support an independent artist. it matters.
