Samhain: StoneMetal Press print exchange

Samhain celebrates the transition point between the light half of the year and the dark, held at the end of harvest. StoneMetal Press Printmaking Center in San Antonio is honoring this tradition with a print exchange.

Recently, my transition took place with a move to Los Angeles to teach printmaking and drawing at California State University Northridge. Living close to the ocean in a sprawling metropolis has peaked my interest in how water quality effects the smallest of creatures, traveling up the food chain to the largest.

Harmful algal blooms, sometimes referred to as red tides, are on the rise along populated coasts, in part from run off altering the water's nutrient balance and feeding the algae. In the Pacific, Pseudo-nitzschia produces domoic acid, a neurotoxin to humans and other mammals. Harmful algal blooms play a role in marine mortality events, including the 35 plus tons of suffocated sardines in King Harbor near Los Angeles this past March.

For information on the exchange or StoneMetal Press please visit www.stonemetalpress.com.

Red Tide, Relief print, 5 in. x 7 in., 2011