I was born in 1942 in Amsterdam, Holland - a war baby.

After the war my parents divorced and my mother immigrated to New Zealand. I was 10, I tagged along.

I finished school and qualified as a primary school teacher and then taught in New Zealand, Germany, Papua New Guinea and Australia.

In Germany I married Colin, we have two sons.

While teaching in Brisbane I studied part time at the University of Queensland, completing majors in Classics (Greek), Ancient History and German, and eventually I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree.

For Christmas in 1995 Colin gave me a set of Linocutting tools and, surprisingly, in January I still had all my fingers and thumbs. Lots of cuts, but I could still count to ten.

In 1997 I won first prize in the inaugural Tuggeranong Community Art competition with my print "The Madwoman". This was based on a line from Erica Jong's book "Fear of Fifty".

"At fifty the madwoman in the attic breaks loose, stomps down the stairs and sets fire to the house"

I had started a bit late but I then began studying for a diploma of Visual Arts in Printmaking. The course included etching, lithography and the making of collagraphs.

2003 was a time for another move. Kerikeri in the north of New Zealand is where we now live.

Etchings are made from a metal plate, usually zinc or copper. A "ground" or varnish is painted on the plate, then lines are scratched through the varnish, exposing the metal, and the plate is placed in a dilute acid bath. The length of time and the strength of the acid determines the look of the line, and often a plate is etched several times before it is printed. The plate is then inked and wiped so the ink remains only in the etched areas, and run through a press.

There are different techniques to create desired effects, and often several of these processes are used in one image. Etching has been around for centuries, and Rembrandt is considered one of the early masters.

Dry-point - Requiring no acid, the lines are scratched directly into the plate with a sharp tool. The burr along the edge of the line gives a soft fuzzy effect, which only lasts for a few printings. Often used in conjunction with standard etching to give a softer effect or to enhance lines.

A dry-point needle can also be used to draw an image on Perspex. This avoids the use of acid. The plate is then printed just like an etching.

Collagraphs are a modern invention, where a plate for printing is made from various materials put together in the form of a collage. The backing can be cardboard, masonite, or plastic, and the image can be formed with layers of paper, fabric, or anything flat enough to be run through an etching press. The plate is then sealed with a layer of acrylic medium, and inked and printed like an etching.

Intaglio - The above three techniques use the intaglio printing technique. The paper picks up the ink which is lower then the plate surface. The paper is often soaked before printing making it easier for it to be forced into the inked lines by the press.

Lithographs originally used limestone blocks, but now many printmakers achieve a similar effect with special metal plates. After the stone is ground totally smooth, a wax or oil based paint or crayon is used to make the image on the stone, which is then treated with a light acid solution. This causes the stone to reject any more ink. Fresh ink is rolled onto the stone, where it adheres only to the image, and it is printed in a special lithography press (there are commercial versions of this process also). After the edition is printed, the stone is ground down for the next image with no possibility of printing another edition.

Linocuts use the relief method of printing. The area which is not to be printed is cut away from a linoleum plate leaving the raised image to be inked and printed on paper.

Multi-colour prints can be produced by several methods, most of which are time-consuming and difficult. The easiest way is to hand-color a print after it is printed, with watercolor, pastels or coloured pencils. The most difficult way is to produce several plates for the same image, each to be inked in a different colour, then carefully registered to match up the image.

Numbering and signing of prints is usually done in pencil and marked with the number of prints in the series and the number of the particular print, such as 1/10 (first print in a edition of ten identical prints). Etchings and drypoints can be recognized by the "plate mark," the impression of the plate. Also, the ink is raised above the surface of the paper and can be felt with the fingertips.

Before an edition is printed, proofs are made of the image, and often changes are made at this point, so often an artist's proof is a unique impression. These are generally marked A/P instead of being numbered, as in an edition.