Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Spring has Sprung!

Dear Twin Vixen Press supporters,

It’s been a year since our last posting and we decided it was about time we share what was happening with the Twin Vixens. This last year has brought many changes to the press but we’re sill going strong, printing and teaching and making art. For the past two years we have offered our families, friends and supporters the opportunity to support our little venture through participating in our Annual Subscription Print Fundraiser. This is how it works: We offer you two prints, one by Helen and one by Briony, for the price of $60 or $100 for two special edition, hand-colored prints. The funds we raise from the Subscription help keep the studio alive and will enable us to purchase new equipment for the studio and buy supplies for our classes. This is a great way to buy original prints for a very low price and a great way to help support two young, hardworking, artists.

What we’ve been up to…
In September Briony embarked on an adventure to pursue her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a full fellowship. In her absence, Helen has picked up the slack and done an amazing job at teaching workshops and maintaining the studio on her own. In November, Helen taught a Beginning Etching class and in March Helen began a new 6-week course teaching more advanced etching techniques to Continuing printmaking students, as well as started an afterschool class for high school students. She is also continuing to teach an etching class every Tuesday at the Putney School. This summer Briony will temporarily move back to Vermont to help with the studio.

Helen has had a busy year working to strike a balance between all the things she loves. As the seasons change so does her focus. In the spring of ’09 Helen moved to the country to live in Putney, VT with her boyfriend, Noah. Having access to a little land, she began building her own gardens for the first time. Throughout the spring, summer and fall seasons she continued working for clients in their gardens. In the autumn Helen coached the girls soccer team at The Putney School for the second year in a row. Once the cold of November hit and all the outside work was finished, she moved into her studio and created five new prints for her December show at Amy’s Bakery and Arts Café. These large format, black and white prints represent a new phase for Helen and reflect her connection with her new life in the country.

In January, Helen and Noah traveled to the West Coast to spend some time adventuring and visiting friends and family. They had a very inspiring trip, spending the entirety of their five weeks along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.

Presently, Helen is working on a collection of paintings and prints inspired by her west coast trip. This year she has shown at the Lucia Douglas Gallery in Bellingham, WA, the Catherine Dianich Gallery as well as Amy’s Bakery and Arts Café in Brattleboro, VT and Gatto Nero Press in St. Johnsbury, VT. This June, Helen will show a collection of new prints at Works on Paper in Bellows Falls, Vermont.


Briony has settled in nicely to the Madison scene and has begun to understand the intricacies of being a graduate student in a research-based university. Although she often yearns for Vermont, the studio and Helen’s company, she has had an amazing experience at school. The program has given her the chance to focus on her own work and to experiment with working larger and bolder. Simultaneously, she has also taken on the task of working on 50 new illustrations for the upcoming book “Wicked Bugs” by Amy Stewart, the second book in the “Wicked” series. This book will be released in the spring of 2011. Briony has also found a true Wisconsin man, Ted Lott, with whom she has fallen deeply in love.

Although devoting a large amount of her time towards her degree, Briony has also made efforts to show her work in a number of shows across the country. With the publication of “Wicked Plants”, she was invited to show at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden last spring and will have her botanical work showcased at the Bone Room in Berkley this April. In September Briony was invited to participate in a print show in Titan, WA and in January, she participated in “Forward,” a show in Chicago that featured the work of current UW-Madison graduate students. This summer Briony will be showing her more recent work in a family show (Buffy, Bruce and Briony) at the new Brackenwood Gallery in Langley, WA as well as the Froggwell Binnalle at the Froggwell Gardens on Whidbey Island.

Thank you…
These last two years the studio has evolved to become an amazing place for not only Helen and Briony to make art and play but has become an encouraging environment for others – whether they be accomplished artists or a high school student with a craving to work creatively. We’ve enjoyed every aspect of starting this studio up and want to thank you again for all your love and support.

If you would like to reserve your prints and view photographs of Noah and Ted please send a check, payable to Twin Vixen Press, to our NEW MAILING ADDRESS:

Twin Vixen press
7 Small Meadows Lane
Putney, VT 05346

$60 for black & white
$100 for hand-tinted, color images

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!!

Helen and Briony