Artist Don Munz was born in 1931 in San Francisco and spent his childhood years in the San Joaquin Valley. Munz attended the Art Center College of Design, then located in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from the Art Center, the artist went on to complete his Masters of Fine Art Degree at California State University. Munz later furthered his art education at Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Munz particularly enjoys working with the medium of silkscreen because of the versatility that it offers the artist. “I have found silkscreening to be as flexible and gratifying a tool of creative expression as a painter finds with easel and brush.” He currently creates his beautiful silkscreen editions at his Southern California studio.

Serigraphy is the initial process used in the making of Don Munz’s limited editions. The screen press is used in much the same way as an etching press is used in monoprinting. After each pass of the squeegee, Munz works the fresh ink with brushes, sponges, and cloths to create the textures he has designed into the print. Once the layered textures are completed on the edition, Don begins the pastel work that entirely overlays each piece. “Through textured line technique, I’m trying to portray a feeling of being alone in the country where one can still hear the sound of birds singing and listen to the gurgling of a stream.”

When finished, each print is subtly different from the next making it an original having serigraph, brush work, texturing, and pastels incorporated into its production. Munz’s work has sold very successfully in the past several years and his images can be found in many private and corporate collections.

The pieces featured here are each finished with hand-coloured lines of pastel giving the effects of motion, shadow, reflection, and depth to each of the landscapes. Munz uses almost surrealistic hues which are rich in colour and allow the pieces to work well together.