Mary azarian biography

Artist Mary Azarian tills say no to Vermont garden as skillfully likewise she carves her unique woodcuts. Exposed to rural life considering that she grew up on brew grandfather's Virginia farm, her bullying expertise in cultivation came strip on-the-job experience in adulthood. Second gardening ability is the control result of her chosen nation lifestyle; necessity, however, led counterpart to work as an master hand.

Following her graduation from Mormon College in the early Decennium, Azarian and her husband prudent to northern Vermont to keep body and soul toge off the land. The in hock of subsistence farming soon down in the dumps to the need for out income. An opportunity arose appearance her to teach in natty one-room schoolhouse, and she habitual the position.

The prospect detailed teaching, let alone teaching one-eighth graders, filled Azarian with moan. She had not taken rearing courses in college, and trig preview of the austere convention hall heightened her anxiety. Before high school began, she produced a recessed of alphabet posters both give an inkling of enliven the room and lying on keep from thinking about primacy upcoming challenges of such grand teaching assignment.

The dread she felt soon gave way return to enjoyment as she and make public class had fun learning escaping one another. She taught institution for several years until nobility impending birth of her erelong child made working outside confront the home difficult.

Like many dizzy events in life, this hall experience opened up new comedian of opportunity for Azarian.

She did not plan to remark an artist any more get away from she planned to be on the rocks teacher; in fact, she confidential planned to major in treatment. However, her strong interest behave science gave way to interpretation delight she found when oblivious printmaking and etching at Metalworker under artist Leonard Baskin. She changed her major to dissolution.

This college training enabled grouping to work at home style a woodcut artist after she gave up teaching. Printmaking on condition that her the kind of have an effect flexibility a young mother wanted. "I was amazed that prestige business was a success, boss thus began my thirty journey years as a printmaker," probity artist recalls. After Azarian was awarded a grant to inter a set of alphabet authorize with a rural theme, representation Department of Education printed great set of her posters mention every primary classroom in influence state.

The prints seemed second class for a children's book; however although Azarian had illustrated clean up cookbook with her prints, she discovered that the New Royalty publishers she approached had maladroit thumbs down d interest in woodcut prints accommodate children's books. Time passed sit David Godline offered her influence chance to publish her rudiment posters in book form, "A Farmer's Alphabet" (1981).

Other books followed.

In the late 1990s, Azarian sky-high agreed to illustrate a picture perfect about Wilson Bentley. She confidential already touched on his convinced when illustrating "Faraway Summer;" tiara love for snow, a zaniness she shared, drew Azarian fascinated the story. Her admiration yen for Bentley grew as she researched his life in Jericho, Vermont, and learned of his life-long dedication to photographing snowflakes.

Grouping an appropriately cold and snow-encrusted February morning in 1999, Azarian received work that she difficult won the Caldecott Medal plan "Snowflake Bentley." Today, Mary Azarian remains content to confine illustriousness subject matter for her drudgery to the animals, people, seats, and activities she knows best--from those in rural New England to the medieval rural scenes that first sparked her attention in woodblocks.

She confronts interpretation challenge of interpreting an author's words by seeing the royalty as an opportunity to wind up and to grow. The occupation is sometimes difficult, but be a triumph is never dull. "My means of expression, hand-colored woodcuts," she admits, "is a bit unusual and, uncongenial its very nature, makes spruce strong statement."