Mary Azarian (born 1940) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

artist and

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

illustrator. She won the 1999

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing ''

Snowflake Bentley Wilson Alwyn Bentley (February 9, 1865 – December 23, 1931), also known as Snowflake Bentley, was an American meteorologist and photographer, who was the first known person to take detailed photographs of snowflakes and record their featu ...

'' by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. It tells about the life of

Wilson Bentley Wilson Alwyn Bentley (February 9, 1865 – December 23, 1931), also known as Snowflake Bentley, was an American meteorologist and photographer, who was the first known person to take detailed photographs of snowflakes and record their feat ...

. She lives in

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. She produces original prints and has illustrated over 50 books.

Early life

Azarian grew up on her grandfather's farm on the outskirts of

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Her grandfather’s farm had thousands of chicken along with geese that would bother the customers that came to buy his eggs. Azarian’s uncle grew vegetables. Being around her family gardens sparked her lifelong interest in nature. When she was young, she would spend her time exploring the woods and fields with her pony named Pasty. She began drawing and painting at an early age. In 4th grade, she did her first relief print of woodcuts. This piece of art was a lino block of an angel with the name NOEL at the bottom. She ran into a problem and learned a valuable lesson from this project; words must be reversed when doing a woodcut. Her finished product read LEON.

Education

Azarian continued to lino cuts until she later attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, where she studied printmaking and painting with one of the great 20th century printmakers,

Leonard Baskin Leonard Baskin (August 15, 1922 – June 3, 2000) was an American sculptor, draughtsman and graphic artist, as well as founder of the Gehenna Press (1942–2000). One of America's first fine arts presses, it went on to become "one of the most imp ...

Career

After she graduated from

, she moved to farm in

. Azarian and her husband raised horses, oxen, chickens, a jersey milk cow, a sheep, and a goat with the help of their three sons. Before beginning her career as a full-time artist, Azarian taught in a

one-room schoolhouse One-room schoolhouses, or One-room schools, have been commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, and Spa ...

for three years. After she finished her three years of teaching, she decided she wanted to make a living selling woodcut prints. She began producing her prints by hand and in black and white. Eventually, she began adding color to her prints by hand. Finally, she found an old Vandercook proof press and began using it to produce the prints. In the 1970s, Azarian began illustrating children’s books. In 1999, the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

awarded Azarian the

for her illustrations in the children's book,

Family

Mary Azarian has three sons with folk musician and artist Tom Azarian, also known by the name of Tom Banjo. Though she took his last name, the two never legally married, and separated in 1982. She also has four grandchildren.

Selected works

*''

'', written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin *''A Farmer's Alphabet'' *''A Gardener's Alphabet'' *''Barn Cat'' *'' The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian'' *When the Moon is Full

References

External links

*
Mary Azarian
at National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature
Britannica Student Encyclopedia

contributed by Sharon Barrett Kennedy 2002

Video: Woodcut Artist Mary Azarian {{DEFAULTSORT:Azarian, Mary 1940 births American children's writers American women children's book illustrators American people of Armenian descent Caldecott Medal winners American children's book illustrators People from Plainfield, Vermont Smith College alumni Living people Date of birth missing (living people)