Ott, Mary

A MD-based painter/printmaker, Mary has studied under some of the best printmakers and painters in the area: Christenberry, Cushner, Goldman, O’Neil and Marchand. Her recent exhibit “Grasses” at Touchstone Gallery in DC received a very favorable review in the Washington Post. She has an expressive style inspired by ornamental grasses, images from nature, and personal digital photos. In her acrylic paintings on canvas she starts with raw linen or stretched canvas. She dips embroidery yarn into acrylic paint and pulls the yarn down the surface of the painting “one blade at a time” to make a full field of grass. Her monotypes are made with a hand-operated etching press. She uses ornamental grasses to apply acrylic ink on archival paper, producing delicate images of grass bouquets. In addition to monotypes, her printmaking media comprise etching, intaglio, lithography, photogravure, screenprinting and combinations of these media.