We love learning more about our contributors, and an interview seemed like a fun way to hear more about the writers and artists we publish, so we gave them a choice of questions to answer. We hope you also enjoy hearing more about the artists and their works. Read on and check out issue 28 for some new artwork, "Danville" and "Climate Change" by Deborah Fries.


What was the inspiration for the piece published in the issue?
Both “Danville” and “Climate Change” are collage-on-monotype pieces that were originally spare landscapes and part of a 2025 series that played with adding elements of whimsy or dread or nostalgia. “Danville” incorporates engravings from an1890 Danville State Hospital annual report. “Climate Change” plays with the saying it’s raining cats and dogs. It is only raining cats in this vision of climate change.


What do you do in the rest of your life and how does that connect and/or conflict with your creative life?
After 26 years of working in government public affairs, I can now give my full attention to my creative life as a printmaker, writer, poet, and developmental editor. Those efforts overlap in ways that usually connect but sometimes compete for attention. In the past few years, I've been drawn to combining words and images, as in the online chapbook, Expedition.


What is your creative process? Do you plan pieces out or let them happen as they come?
Since 2015, I’ve worked in a printmaking studio with other artists and discovered that just like in storytelling, there are pantsers and plotters. In both the printing plate and the page, I am a pantser. I admire the patience it takes to carefully create and register images, and to know how the story is going to end. However, I just dive in. It sounds nicer to call the process organic.


If you're part of a workshop group or other creative community, tell us about it! How did it form, what all do you do, and how does it help your creative process?
I’m a member of a terrific group of printmakers who work out of the 705 West Printshop & Gallery in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Founded and designed as a space to make art safely by our director, Patricia Shaw Lima, we support each other in moving through growth phases, as we explore new interests, methods and materials.


Who are some of your favorite artists, and what do you like about them?
I follow and am inspired by so many artists on Instagram! Tosin Oyeniyi, for his vision and technical skills; Jeremy Miranda, for his use of light; Jill Eisele, for her painterly voice; and Katja Long, for her haunting, colorless vision. And so many more! I can hold the work of these artists – mostly living and working in other countries – backlit, in my hand.