The country's renewed interest in nature printing, the process of recreating images from the natural world, has captured the fascination of Lynne Maietta, a nature-print artist from Montoursville, Pennsylvania. She first became interested in the craft after reading an article about the art form in Herb Companion magazine. Already an avid seamstress and nature lover, printing seemed like a perfect coupling of both interests.Having received no formal art training, Maietta credits her knowledge and skill to well-known nature print artist and author, Laura Donnelly Bethmann, whose book, "Nature Printing with Herbs, Fruits and Flowers," inspired Maietta to further pursue the craft. The basic technique involves inking or painting the specimen and placing it ink side down onto the prepared paper (watercolor or Oriental-style) or fabric. The plant is then covered with a sheet of newsprint paper and pressed by hand or brayer, a small, hand-held roller. The covering paper is then removed and the plant is carefully lifted away with tweezers, leaving a printed image on the fabric or paper. The printing can be done on many surfaces including fabrics, such as cotton, polyester, linen and silk, paper, wood and walls. Block printer's ink is used for printing on paper and acrylic paint or ink, while ink is used for walls and flower pots.Nature printing not only includes foliage, but animals such as spiders and fish. After reading an article on Gyotaku, Japanese fish printing, Maietta bought a fish, stuffed the cavities, glued the gill openings shut, and then thoroughly dried the fish. She applied block printing ink and rubbed a special kind of soft Japanese paper on the fish. When the paper was lifted off the fish, a print was left. Maietta has printed a variety of fish including bass and trout. Lynne Maietta 's artwork is available through The Omnibus Art Gallery. Contact Robin Van Auken for more information at: RobinVanAuken@gmail.com (570) 326-7872