Maggie Kendis

Growing up in Los Angeles I wanted to illustrate children’s books or do the covers of the New Yorker Magazine, which were always around the house! Art was always encouraged by my family, so I painted, drew, and created. For two summers I lived in Mexico, living with families, experiencing the folk art, going to summer school, and exploring the culture, influencing my love of color folk art, and the various arts of that culture.

Studying art at San Francisco State College, then graduating with a BA from the University of California, Irvine. I became enthralled with intaglio and the element of surprise that always existed between the process of etching and pulling a print. You never knew exactly how it would come out.

After graduation, I lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico taking art classes for a quarter, where I studied batik.  The negative space in batik is very much like what I am intrigued with in printmaking. There is an element of surprise at the end, when the wax is removed, after the last dyeing bath, before you see the results. I worked in that medium for over twenty years, represented in galleries in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs, Maui to Boston.  I also did many commissioned works for the Bank of America throughout Southern California, as well as hotels throughout the country.  

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In 1980, I got married and moved to Connecticut. Now single, I continue printing but work mainly in linoleum cut prints combined with watercolor, wood, and mixed media. My subjects are inspired by my love of animals, nature, and folk art.

In the last few years, friends have asked for custom pet portraits of their dog, cat, horse, bird…all I need are photos to work from. These prints have then developed into earrings, pendants, pins with the likeness of their pet.