Beth Dushane Farmer (1925-2003) was always sketching, as a girl growing up in Pasadena, California. She had the ability to copy Audubon’s birds (in water color) right out of the book. Because of her free-hand skills, she was recruited as a technical illustrator, at just 18 years old, to help with the war effort in the 1940s. Over the years, she continued to study painting with watercolors and oils. Then she discovered serigraphy - an emerging medium at the time of Warhol’s popularity in the 1960s.
Serigraphy is the process of forcing ink by hand onto paper through a silk screen. Each color is applied separately using individual hand-stenciled screens. Many individual layers of ink in varying colors are squeezed onto the paper in succession to create the finished image.
Farmer found inspiration everywhere, documenting her observations with sketches and photography. She most often created stencils via free-hand - exploring color, shape and texture, often using materials like lace for a collage effect. She also applied the technique of photosensitive emulsion or photo-reactive stenciling for an illustrative effect. She loved experimenting with the order of each layer of ink, creating the same image in multiple color variations, with the idea that a combined series of the same image would tell a story.
During the 1970s, her most prolific period, Farmer resided in Whittier, California, where she earned many awards for her art, and gained recognition as an authority on serigraphy, as well as a teacher and judge of the medium. A highlight for her was making a guest appearance on a televised program about the various mediums of fine art. In the early 1980s she retired to Sonoma, California with her husband. Her daughter and granddaughter, now handle the collection.
Orders:
Please contact us at bethdushanefarmer@gmail.com for order questions and shipping information.
Important Information:
All original serigraphs are non-framed produced with Acrylic paint on various high-quality grades of french paper.
Dimensions are image size, paper sizes may vary.
If there is a blemish/flaw, we try to note that in the description. Ask about other color versions. The limited numbers of prints, the intricacy of design/layers of ink, or quality can all impact the price. Please ask questions, and we will try to answer them.
The Farmer Family