Four Seasons of Mary Azarian

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Mary Azarian, recipient of the 1999 Caldecott Medal for the artwork in Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, works in wood. In her quiet Vermont studio, she coaxes form and feeling out of soft pine, bringing to life the beauty of the landscape she sees and imagines around her. This arresting retrospective displays 50 gorgeous, often full-page reproductions of her hand-colored woodcuts and an equal number of prints in black and white. Lilias Hart, another Vermonter, contributes the brief accompanying text, a mix of the lyrical and the concrete that stands up well to the sturdy, roughly textured pictures. Azarian's work is, perhaps, most appealing when it reflects the homey details of daily life through the year: a cornucopia of summer vegetables, children sledding down a hill, laundry flapping in the breeze. In a final chapter, decorated with more functional woodcuts, Hart introduces a bit of printmaking history and explains the process that links Azarian to artists who used block prints to decorate fabrics more than 1,500 years ago. Stephanie Zvirin
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This retrospective volume displays the full range of Mary Azarian's abilities as a woodcutter. Arranged according to the seasons she celebrates in her art, 50 of her extraordinary woodcuts depicting the daily events of a rural life are presented in color and b&w. The text, written by her friend Lilias Hart, discusses not only her work but also what life is like in the rigorous reaches of Northern Vermont. A final section discusses the process of making a woodcutits history and techniques. The book is oversize (12.5x9.5) to accommodate full page display of the woodcuts. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


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