Mary Azarian (born 1940) is an American

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 tha ...

artist and

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

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 Servic ...

for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing '' Snowflake Bentley'' 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 featu ...

. She lives in Calais,

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. 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 ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. 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, 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 Smith College, 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 schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

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, with 49,727 members ...

awarded Azarian the

for her illustrations in the children's book, Snowflake Bentley.

Family

Mary Azarian is married to her husband Tom and together they have three sons. She also has four grandchildren.

Selected works

*'' Snowflake Bentley'', written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin *''A Farmer'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 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)