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The artist with one of her pieces. Photo Chris Lavin
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Lyn White watched her neighbor walking two dogs down the street in Moraga and ran in to grab her camera. Then she ran out to ask permission to take a photo - all this in about 50 seconds. But that was a while ago so she was probably still in her 70s, she says.
"I got the camera and then asked her if it was all right to take a picture," said White,who is now in her 80s. "I always ask permission."
What resulted was a study in blue, red and yellow, dogs tugging in two directions. It is representative of White's lifelong work of printmaking first, then multi-media treatments second. (And third and fourth.) She borrows a press, makes multiple prints, then it's back to the kitchen table with paints, glue ... multiple supplies, actually. "I use a lot of materials," White said. "Not just one medium." She then makes unique pieces from each identical print by painting and gluing and rubbing and dabbing.
A signature print of White's work hangs in her foyer, depicting her daughter on the front steps of a San Francisco apartment, looking quite dapper and 1950s. "I don't know how I came up with this," White says, peering at the fancy lace of the lapel and trying to remember how she created the effect. "I think I put down some burlap or cloth then lifted it up." The result is a perfect rendition of lace, in a world of blue and black and quaintness.
White married a civil engineer, and has spent her life helping to build bridges, literally, all over the world. Her time in Africa and Europe helped form her art: she has a woman riding a bicycle with baskets front and back full of flowers, ala France, a woman carrying baskets, ala one of many places in Africa, and a newspaper boy heralding the latest edition above his head, ala the United States. Another signature is two women playing violin with a cellist in the middle, ala anywhere.
"I don't know where I get my ideas," White said. "I just ... see things."
White works mostly at her kitchen table. She is no longer fancy about her clothing. "This is what I wear," she says, exhibiting spotless sweat pants and a sweatshirt and turtleneck, and still managing to look totally put together. She has shelves and shelves of finished prints in her den, organized like a mechanical engineer, including drawers full of family portraits, made for events over the years - a homecoming, or graduation.
"These are all family," she said, pulling out a drawer. "Many, many prints about family. These are some of my favorites."
To view more of White's work, visit her website, which was created by her daughter, at www.lynwhiteart.com.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA