A New Leaf

"All Those Tomorrows," silkscreen by TNLG printmaker Catherine Green

My favorite tree, a Japanese maple tree that I planted behind my house in fond remembrance of a special time in my life, has shed its lacy leaves. No worries, this hardy species flourishes where winters are cold and summers hot, as we experience here in rural Northern New England.

This past summer my leafy maple friend provided shade for me as my home became my workplace and my laptop set up on a patio table in my backyard became my connection to the world.

Dainty leaves floating
maroon, tinged with green, yellow
masking sun and sky

This past week, I hunkered down in my toasty warm kitchen as the first storm of the winter season encroached. My favorite tree’s branches held the snow until an icy wind swept through. Now its lean frame and bark are starkly exposed. Its clean structure has me thinking of this year of 2020, a time we'll remember for tragedy, and for resolve. As we isolate and distance ourselves from one another, I feel our forced solitude underscores and amplifies our need for community.

We will weather this pandemic, we will. And we will do it together.

I find hope and optimism for the year ahead in the opportunity to start over, to try again. To turn a new leaf. For me, this means stripping away the irrelevant and focusing on the essential. Community meets our fundamental need for connection; commitment to continuous improvement creates a pathway forward; art unlocks aspirational achievement.

Matt tells me printmaking is all about trying it over and over again. Get out those blocks and colors one more time, pull yet more impressions, make yet more changes, and then do it all over again. I am excited to be working with him on The New Leaf Gallery project, seeking to create a place to showcase art expressed via the repetitive process of printmaking, pull by pull, leaf by leaf, on paper. Our mission is to foster a community of printmakers and to invite print enthusiasts to join us in enjoying sophisticated, handmade original artworks produced by artists creating limited edition prints.

Keep an eye on us; we are having fun and will be pleased to include you in our effort.

Taryn Fisher, 12.21.2020