Here’s my story
Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived deep in the suburbs of a northeastern city. She loved being told the fairy tales about kings, queens, witches, wolves and wonders. When she had her own little children, she loved telling them the same stories. When her children grew up and moved away, she told the stories to her grandsons. They grew up too and she became an old woman.
She thought there still might be some magic in the world so she carved a portrait of a princess on a wooden block. She inked it. But instead of printing the image on paper, she dampened a piece of cotton, pinned it down, and printed the image on the cotton.
Instantly, the princess came to life and spoke to the old woman.
Blue Riding Hood 2021 · click to enlarge
“Printing is a simple trick,
Print another, print it quick!”
So the old woman printed another princess and another and another and when she had an edition, all the princesses spoke to her.
“Can you appliqué a crown for me?” asked one.
“Paint a background here!," said another.
“Perhaps you can stitch a tiara for me," said a third.
The old woman made prints of birds and animals and swimmers and insects and princes and babies and teenagers and each one was unique. They continue to speak to the old woman to this day and if you look closely, they will speak to you, too.
The End
Fay Stanford
Exhibitions
*solo
2023 Surface Design Association
The Old Print Shop NYC, Society of American Graphic Artists
The Plastic Club, Philadelphia
108 Contemporary, Tulsa, OK
2022 *McLean Textile Gallery, VA
Society of American Graphic Artists, NYC
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Salmagundi Club
Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers, PA
2021 Providence Art Club, RI
Lansdowne Art Board, PA
2020 Grinnell College Museum of Art
2019 Newark NJ Public Library Special Collections Department
2019 Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2017 *Church of St. Asaph’s, Bala Cynwyd, PA
Artspace, Santa Fe, NM
2016 *Artspace, Loveland, CO
*ONE Arts Gallery, Burlington, VT
2015 Art in City Hall, Exhibition juried and staged by The Print Center, Philadelphia
2012 *Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hackensack, NJ
2011 *Annenberg Conference Center for Medical Education, Wynnewood, PA
Washington Printmakers Guild, Silver Spring, MD
*Soho20 Chelsea Gallery, New York, NY
2010 *Villanova University, Villanova, PA
2009 Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art juried show in Perelman Library
*The Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, PA
2007 *Warehouse Theater and Gallery Washington DC
2006 Falling Cow Gallery
2004, 2005 Spector Gallery Philadelphia
2004, 2006 State Museum of Pennsylvania Harrisburg. Art of the State competition
2003 *Manayunk Art Center Philadelphia
Washington and Jefferson College Washington PA
Philadelphia Sketch Club Philadelphia
2003, 2006 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Philadelphia
2002 Washington County Museum of Art Hagerstown MD
2001 Pendle Hill Conference Center Wallingford PA
2000 The College of New Jersey Trenton NJ
1999 *University City Arts League Philadelphia
1997 Third Street Gallery Philadelphia
1996 Wayne Art Center Wayne PA
1995 *The Schuylkill Center Philadelphia
1992 *Episcopal Academy Merion PA
Awards
2019 Accepted into the collection of The Newark, NJ Public Library
2003 Cheltenham Center for the Arts Cheltenham PA
1996 Delaware Center for Contemporary Art Wilmington
1995 Abington Art Center Abington, PA. Second Place
Artforms Gallery Philadelphia. Paula Simon Memorial Award for Painting
Delaware Center for Contemporary Art Wilmington. First Place
1994 Abington Art Center Abington, PA. Honorable Mention
Penn State Delaware County Campus Award of Distinction
1992 Main Line Art Center Haverford, PA. Eliot Raum Prize for Painting
1972-4 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study Cajun music