Botanical Printmaker
Linda Snouffer — Ramsey County Library — Shoreview Branch
Shoreview locals call the prairie across the street from the library, "Grass Lake." The Shoreview Library Committee commissioned me to make a replica of Grass Lake. Each of the 69—inch panels contain approximately 500 individual prints, using grasses that range in size from a few inches to almost 5 feet tall.
I have come to realize that I am, fundamentally, a collector:
– My studio is filled with my collection of original works from artists who inspire me.
– Spotify cut me off when my playlist amassed too many titles - Geesh! How can a person have too much music?
– My reference file has hundreds of iPhone pics and stock images to ponder and often recreate.
– I harvest far more grasses and plants than needed for my work, as evidenced by the multiple vases of dried arrangements in my view – and what can only be described as an exploded hay bale in my studio during printing season.
– Don’t get me started about my art supplies collection: dyes, inks, paints, pastels, pencils, pens, papers, fabrics!
– I collect art techniques used in pastels, acrylics, watercolors, fiber arts, and collage.
Enjoy browsing and contact me with any of your questions about my work, exhibitions or how to become a collector.
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Prairies hold a special place in the world ecology — and my heart. Recreating prairie scenes is a favorite studio endeavor.
The background of sky and land colors is created using pastels, fiber dye pigmentation, and/or water colors. I use a variety of papers and fabrics, such as cotton muslin, organza, tissue, and thick cotton rag paper.
Bundles of grasses are harvested from Metro area prairies, urban wild plots, and neighbors’ yards and are brought to the studio to be sorted, arranged, and hand-printed.
Pastel, acrylic paint, or color pencil enhancements were added after the grass prints dried.
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Over the years, I have been asked to participate in Black & White exhibitions and I have loved the challenge of creating landscapes using a monochrome palette.
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I often use prints of a plant to represent another species.
Yarrow leaves can be used to create evergreen forests.
Timothy grass, inked with brown and green, are printed to make cattails.
Banana leaves have been printed to create mountain scenes.
Certain printing techniques make images look as though they are batik fabrics.
“My art is a synthesis of all my collections which give me inspiration and the tools to do what I love to do – Botanical Printmaking.”
Explore more
Newest Work
Yarrow River
With a pastel background for sky, land, and water, dozens of yarrow leaf prints compose the forest. Pastel pencils were used for enhancements
Image size 10” x 12”
Framed to 16” x 20” $445
Newest Work
In this section, you will see landscapes fresh from the studio or pieces with new techniques, materials, or happy accidents.
Enjoy the exploration!
Prairie Landscapes
Daybreak
Linen infused with pastel pigments created the background. Grasses hand-printed, with pastel and ink enhancements.
25” x 14” $895
Prairie Landscapes
These pieces specifically use grass prints to create images of grasses in prairies. With variations of grass species used (tall native, cultivated, and “weedy grasses”), background materials (papers and fabrics), and background color pigmentation (pastels, watercolors, fiber dyes), landscape compositions look quite different from one another.
Unexpected Botanicals
Reeds
Raw canvas was infused with pastel to create the sky and waterway. Hundreds of grass prints compose the reeds; yarrow and fern tips were printed to create the trees.
23 x 29" $1500
Unexpected Botanicals
Plants selected to be printed are used to represent things other than the plants themselves. Printed banana leaves compose mountains; grass prints are used to make cattails or reeds; yarrow leaves resemble fir trees.
Monochrome Images
Descent into Darkness
Pastel was worked onto black artist paper to develop the ground cover and sky. Grasses were printed to complete the piece. Finished in a grey float frame without glass.
8" x 8" $245 SOLD
Monochrome Images
Most of my work begins with making a colorful sky, so switching to a monochrome pallette is fun challenge. Many of the pieces in this collection came from invitations to be a part of “black and white exhibitions.”