Artwork by Mary D. Ott
	Bouquet of Grasses LXVI (2010) Monotype on Stonehenge Natural 10" x 10" Framed 18.25" x 17.25" Silver Grass IV (2011) Monotype on Lokta Natural 8" x 8" Framed 18.25" x 17.25" Wide Grass (2009) Etching with aquatint and color viscosity on Kochi 9" x 24" Framed 20.5" x 34.75" Two Wide Grass Panels (2010) Two etchings with aquatint on Unryu, hemmed; bamboo; cotton cord 46" x 30" Blue, Yellow and Green Grasses (2010) Unique soft ground etching with screenprint Framed 38" x 29" Bouquet of Grasses LVII (2010) Monotype 10" x 10" Framed 18.25" x 17.25" Bouquet of Grasses LII (2010) Monotype 10" x 10" Framed 18.25" x 17.25"	Come to my Exhibit at Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD! February 6 through April 8, 2012 This solo exhibit features monotypes with images of ornamental grasses from two series of prints, “Bouquet of Grasses” and “Silver Grass.” The location is the Education Hallway at Brookside Gardens Visitors Center, located at 1800 Glenallen Ave., Wheaton, MD 20902 (301-962-1400). The hours are 9 am to 5 pm daily. Admission is free. Washington Post Review of my Exhibit Grasses at Touchstone Gallery Excerpted from: The Washington Post Style--Galleries April 29, 2011 By Mark Jenkins Natural selections Two other local artists, showing together at Touchstone Gallery, exercise a more modest sort of control over nature imagery. Mary D. Ott’s prints of wild grasses and Janet Wheeler’s mixed-media “nests’’ present their subjects in manageable sizes and formats, and emphasize craft over conceptualism. Ott uses dried ornamental grasses as the motifs for monotypes and screen prints that showcase color as much as form. Some prints show wispy shapes on white backgrounds, while others frame the grass’s fragile outlines in reverse and are primarily blocks of bold colors, including reds and red-browns. (Few are of these works are green.) The artist also suggests grass in etchings that are actually made with thread, creating rows of thin lines that evoke stalks. These “wide grass’’ pieces are sometimes printed in ways that abstract the basic design. Ott’s prints suggest traditional Asian art, and some of them are printed on Japanese kochi or Thai unryu paper, adding vegetable textures to the images of vegetation. The pieces are beautifully made and unapologetically decorative. This work may perform merely the gentlest of twists on its natural inspirations, but it does so with skill and grace. Since they incorporate eggs, feathers and bit of bone, Wheeler’s nests are more complicated…. Jenkins is a freelance writer. Nests With a Twist and Grasses by Janet Wheeler and Mary D. Ott, respectively, are on view through Sunday at Touchstone Gallery, 901 New York Ave. NW. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday noon-5 p.m. Visit www.touchstonegallery.com or call 202-347-2787. - - - - - Touchstone Exhibit 2011 This exhibit of original hand-pulled prints—etchings, screenprints, monotypes, and mixed-media prints—comprised diverse images with grasses as their theme. The etching “Wide Grass” was presented in a number of variations, including single images, multiple images, and combinations of a number of prints in hanging cascades. The etching “Grass Bouquet” was combined with screenprinting to create mixed-media prints. Monotypes that are part of the series “Bouquet of Grasses” were displayed in an array that highlighted their bright and contrasting colors. The prints are all variations on the theme of grasses. Images of some of the prints in the exhibit are shown on the left of this page. Media Acrylic and Mixed-Media Painting and Drawing Printmaking Examples of Artwork Recent Paintings Prints of Landscapes and Interiors Monotypes One-of-a-Kind Screenprints Photogravures Commentary Works in my Bouquet of Grasses series were featured at Touchstone Gallery in 2008. Ellyn Weiss (www.eweissart.com) blogged: “Mary’s delicate monoprints of grasses have been refined to their essence; they are beautiful, simple, shimmering.” - - - - - In an article in 2006, The University of Chicago Magazine featured my paintings and prints. Be sure to click on “Read More.” - - - - - To inquire about the artwork or provide feedback on this website, please contact me at: marydott@earthlink.net No part of this web site may be reproduced without the written permission of Mary D. Ott. Page revised December 2011.