Ronna Katz

A monotype is a printed painting or an indirect painting. I work directly on a flat plexiglass plate and create an image using oil-based ink applied with brayers, rags and brushes. Unique to monotypes is that it’s both an additive and subtractive process. (You can also remove ink with Q-tips, rags, steel wool or sticks.) Once satisfied, I place paper on top of the finished painting and hand crank it through an etching press. Under pressure, the image is not only transferred from the plate to the paper (in reverse), but where the paint overlaps, spectacular and intriguing textural effects are produced. Unlike a woodcut or etching, with a monotype there is no carved or etched surface (no “template”) with which to repeat the image. Each monotype is an original (edition of one), and I do not offer reproductions.Sometimes I mount multiple monotypes on a panel and work encaustic (burn in with wax) over my monotype. My framed monotypes are presented with acid-free materials.