MY NAME IS ANNETTE WOLFSTEIN-JOSEPH & I’M A CANADIAN PRINTMAKER.
The current theme in my printmaking is my garden and the growing life in it. I find myself in awe of the cycle of growth, blossoming, death and regeneration that happens daily in the garden, providing me with a connection to Creativity on a grand scale. My prints are my own attempt at creativity on a far more humble scale. I venture to recreate the marvelous colours and textures, lights and shadows as they vary with the shift of the sun and the changing of the seasons. The colours convey the sentiments and moods aroused by the splendour of the garden, in an up-close and personal, larger than life, bee’s eye point of view of the plants conveying total involvement in the setting.
Ever since I studied printmaking at Concordia University in Montreal, where I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1971, I have relentlessly pursued the etching medium as my primary means of expression.
During my years as a printmaker, the varied subjects of my work have been very personal, expressing of my passions and pastimes. I have worked in series of sixteen or more prints on each subject, such as the Doors of Montreal West (my neighbourhood), boats on Lake Champlain, my everyday life as seen in repose with my feet in the foreground, and currently, my garden. This series has expanded to include my vegetable garden and takes in the mystery of plants appearing out of shadows. It features strong contrasts of light and darkness on deeply textured plates sometimes combining etching with collagraphs, often with viscosity roll-ups. My interest in this new series is intended to convey my passions for my garden and the vegetation in it. I believe in this I have been successful and hope the viewer will share my enthusiasm.
Each etching was hand-printed in a combination of traditional and innovative techniques, entirely by the artist and each is, therefore an original print, designed into the metal etching plate, and not a reproduction of another art form. I design, etch and print in small editions (never more than twenty prints) in my own studio in Montreal West, Quebec. For many years I had been a member of the etching atelier of the Saidye Bronfman Centre School of Fine Arts, where for nine years I was teaching etching and was Head of the Printmaking Department until its closing in 2007. I am also an associate member of Atelier Circulaire.
My work has been included in many collections both private and corporate and a number of my prints have been purchased by the Bibliotheque Nationale du Quebec.