Busacca Gallery

Etching, aquatint, spit bite, hardground, hand-coloring from edition of 30, image size 29 5/8" x 35 3/8". This etching is from a series of 4 print editions that I did that depict the life cycles and aging of a staghorn fern as a metaphor for the cycles of aging that all creatures experience. I am particularly fascinated by the unique otherworldly quality of the prehistoric staghorn ferns. Artist Fran Hardy, works as a painter, sculptor, printmaker and fine artist. Depth of knowledge, commitment, and a creative master are just a few of the phrases used in describing Fran Hardy. Having spent over 20 years refining her creative craft Fran has received numerous awards and recognition's for her work. Fran constantly strives for telling the best story in each one of her images. Education: Kutztown University, Temple University, School of Visual Arts, Parsons School of Design. Solo Museum Exhibitions Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Vero Beach Museum of Art, Brevard Museum of Art, Gulf Coast Art Museum, Museum of Florida Art Select Solo Gallery Exhibitions Evoke Contemporary, Santa Fe ,NM Uptown Galllery, NYC Millenia Gallery, Orlando FL Longstreth Goldberg Art Naples FL documentaries on my work aired on FEC-TV, PBS stations "Pentimento, The Artist's Process" "Fran Hardy, In a Brilliant Light" 2001 Florida Individual Artist Fellowship. Art in all its forms doesn't just make people feel good – it makes people feel alive! It can surprise, inspire, excite, and ignite your entire outlook for a moment, a day, or an entire lifetime. It opens eyes, minds, and hearts like no doctor or medicine can. The artist has the ability to transform the mundane into the sublime. When artists touch something deep within us, our lives suddenly have more meaning, joy, and possibilities.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a 'print'. Each piece produced is not a copy but considered 'an original' since it is not a reproduction of another work of art and is technically (more correctly) known as an 'impression'. Printmaking (other than monotyping) is not chosen only for its ability to produce multiple copies, but rather for the unique qualities that each of the printmaking processes lends itself to. Prints are created from a single original surface, known technically as a matrix. Common types of matrices include: plates of metal, usually copper or zinc for engraving or etching; stone, used for lithography; blocks of wood for woodcuts, linoleum for linocuts and fabric plates for screen-printing. But there are many other kinds of matrix substrates and related processes discussed below. Works printed from a single plate create an edition, in modern times usually each signed and numbered to form a limited edition. Prints may also be published in book form, as artist's books. A single print could be the product of one or multiple techniques.