Collection: Mary Cunningham: Intaglio Printmaking

Intaglio Print Making

Growing up on a ranch Mary found her three passions in life – art, ranch and the outdoors.

Decades later, enriched by chronicles of family and life in the west, she remains guided by her dreams of making art and telling the story of a simple ranching life. Mary is largely a self-taught artist except for a few years studying art at the University of Wyoming.

She primarily works with oils and intaglio printmaking. Both disciplines utilize drawing with opportunities for tonal and textural variations. Her belief that art enriches the lives of all has led her to explore other ways to share her art. Ways that might make it affordable and practical for those who otherwise might not invest in a piece. Thus, came what she calls her “functional” art.

Mary balances her creative time with a job as director of the Meeker Classic Sheepdog Trials and caring for their livestock on a small place 45 minutes from Laramie, Wyoming.

My life and my experiences are the reference material for the work.
Each piece must be correct in its anatomical and functional representation an image. The gear, the animals, the setting and scene are a true depiction of my life experiences. I collect imagery from life by sketch and photo - being there, experiencing the moment and putting it to canvas or paper yields a deeper understanding of what I’m creating. Intaglio printmaking is unique unto itself and not well understood and appreciated by many.

Intaglio Printmaking:

Intaglio printmaking is unique unto itself and not well understood and appreciated by many. I employ a variety of intaglio techniques that incise an image into the copper plate, and work the imagery multiple times to get the desired effect. I enjoy the variations of artistic expression that intaglio allows while using a 500 year old technique.

Art is the ballast of my life that steadies the dynamics of daily existence in the modern world.
To move or to be moved is to live . . . To sense the calf shadowed by a bush, to see the movement of a spring breeze or to feel the warmth of the sun on a clear fall day presents half the equation while communicating those feelings completes it.
I am influenced by men and women who’ve taught me that the call of sand hill cranes mark the advent of spring, the deer’s coat changes blue as fall gets near and a cow heavy with calf will isolate herself as she prepares to calve.

These subtle nuances of life offer boundless inspirations for those that notice. This mindset is the foundation that shapes my life and ultimately laid the cornerstone for the art I create. I live a simple life . . . We have chose to follow this path, guardians of the land and livestock.

Our wealth is measured in the sunsets on the high plains, the call of birds as spring awakens and the quiet murmur of a ewe as she nuzzles her newborn lambs.
This lifestyle is threatened and understood by few. Perhaps I can help in a small way by sharing my story through my art.