"Sentinel" was inspired by a lone tree I often drove past on the trip home to see my parents. I always found it's steadfastness comforting. Maybe because I was on my way home. I think it will always make me think of the way parents are forever there in the background of your life, even now that mine are gone.

This image was done as a copperplate etching, which involves scratching a copper plate through a thin resist to expose the metal. The artist sees a negative mirror image. Once drawn the plate is submerged in acid to "bite" lines deeper into the scratches. When satisfied with the image the resist is removed. Ink is forced into the lines and carefully wiped off the surface leaving ink only in the lines of the image. Dampened acid-free paper and a felt blanket are placed over the inked plate and slowly rolled under tremendous pressure through a press transferring the image to the paper.