Holly Shaw

Enso Canyon LLC

On a visit to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, I was inside a glass exhibit hall looking at a wall of rock filled with real dinosaur bones. The tilted wall held over a thousand dinosaurs in the original Morrison rock foundation where they had lived and died. The moment the dinosaurs perished was captured in time, 150 million years ago, when a river of mud enveloped their bodies and bones.

During my trip to the park, I imagined what it was like when they were still there, flying out of a rock formation, rising up out of a deep sea, making the ground rumble as they moved.

I make linocut prints, monotypes, collages and chine colle of ancient creatures that are powerful and alive. The art is designed to capture the emotion of the animal. They are in their landscape, and they rule. Sometimes they are jumping out of a body of water, or flying out of a canyon. They are in the landscapes of the West, and Southwest.

I also make prints of “creatures of biology.” These depictions of cells, mitochondria, and chromosomes seem to be fully functioning creatures in their own landscape. These organelles are also similar to ancient beings, having first appeared on earth a couple billion years ago.

The name of my printmaking studio, Enso Canyon, refers to those ancient canyons of the West where two rivers meet, and seem to have no beginning and no end.

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My initial interest in printmaking began in college, where I learned to do etchings. I later worked at a silkscreen company, where I fell in love with bold colors and shapes. I then focused on silkscreen and drawing in my own studio. More recently, I fell in love with the simplicity of relief printing and now own my own 18 × 36 printer.

I have an MFA in Studio Art from Florida State University. In addition to working as a graphic designer, I have been an educator and a counselor. I currently live in Cedar Crest, New Mexico, in the East Mountains. I have lived in the West for 31 years, including Utah, and Colorado, as well as New Mexico.

Please contact me for more information about prints at holly@ensocanyon.com