Artwork by Mary D. Ott
	Grass Bouquet VI (2010) Etching With Screenprint 27" x 19" Framed 37" x 28" Summer Reflections (2011) Etching With Aquatint and Oil Pastel 18" x 23 1/2" Framed 24" x 30" Dark Magenta Grasses I (2013) Monotype 12” x 12" Framed 20” x 20” Dark Magenta Grasses II (2013) Monotype 12” x 12" Framed 20” x 20”	Current and Upcoming Exhibits Touchstone’s April 2013 members show runs from Wednesday, April 3 through Sunday April 28. There will be an evening reception on Friday, April 5 and a 3rd Thursday opening on April 18, both from 6 to 8:30 pm. The members’ show includes my original print “Grass Bouquet VI.” Touchstone Gallery is open from 11 to 6, Wednesday through Friday, and 12 to 5, Saturday and Sunday. The gallery is located at 901 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20001. (202-347-2787) In May 2013 Touchstone will present an all-members’ show titled “A Dip in the Blue” from Wednesday May 1 to Sunday June 2. The opening reception will be on Friday May 3, and the 3rd Thursday opening on May 16, both from 6 to 8:30 pm. I’ll be showing a mixed-media work “Summer Reflections.” In July 2013 I will present an exhibit at Touchstone Gallery titled ”Hot Off the Press.” This exhibit will feature my monotypes, one-of-a-kind hand-pulled prints. The exhibit will run from Wednesday July 3 through Sunday July 28. Evening openings will be on Friday July 12 and Thursday July 25 from 6 to 8:30 pm. The gallery will be closed on Thursday July 4. The graceful design of ornamental grasses was the inspiration for the prints in the exhibit. Dried ornamental grass was used either to print an image of the grass using etching ink, or to block out the ink and maintain a white area on a colored field. This exhibit includes a number of series of prints, each series starting with one image and then including variations of that image. Media Printmaking Acrylic and Mixed-Media Painting and Drawing Examples of Artwork Prints of Landscapes Monotypes One-of-a-Kind Screenprints Photogravures “Grass” Paintings Gallery and Other Affiliations I am a member of Touchstone Gallery, an artist-owned contemporary art gallery located at 901 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20001. (info@touchstonegallery.com; 202-347-2787) My work is also available through the art consultants group Art Registry. Touchstone Gallery 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. Commentary and Reviews 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 … Mary D. Ott’s prints of wild grasses … 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 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. - - - - - 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 April 2013.