This series of monoprints came about when I was processing the loss of my beloved grandmother, Sarah Fraser Robbins. In the summer of 2002, after her death, I spent several weeks living in her home by the sea in Gloucester, MA. No matter what I looked at, the house, the ocean, the water, the paths I loved to walk, I saw this abstracted door/window/keyhole/beacon shape. So I began exploring this form that was so intriguing to me in watercolors, small collages, ink drawings and eventually these watery blue monoprints.

I started by inking a small uncut 2"x 2" linoleum block, scraping and rubbing away some parts, then I printed the block over and over, applying more layers of ink until I got the right combination of shape, atmosphere, and light to make the image have its own sense of space and mystery. From these very small works I explored more printing methods and slowly increased the size of the prints. Some of the images here are printed from 7"x 7" corrugated cardboard cut outs and some are printed from 4"x4" smooth cardboard.

All are printed numerous times. In looking back on this series of prints I can now name why I was so taken by this shape and what I was doing with my art--searching for Grandma. Being in her big house and looking through all those windows made me feel connected to her and her view of the world. Accepting her death was a door I had to go through and by creating these keyholes I could peek in on where she might be now. She was my beacon.