Mary Diederich Ott (marydott@aol.com) is a native of Beachwood, Ohio who resides in Silver Spring, MD. Mary majored in physics at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, PA and obtained a master's degree from the University of Chicago. After obtaining a Ph.D. in education from the University of Chicago, she did educational research at Cornell University from 1971 to 1979. She did institutional research at the University of Maryland from 1981 until 1991 when she began her art career. Mary has studied printmaking at the Art League School in Alexandria, VA, the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC, and Pyramid-Atlantic in Riverdale, MD.

She is a member of Maryland Printmakers; Pyramid-Atlantic; the Art League of Alexandria, VA; the Capitol Hill Art League of Washington, DC; and Strathmore Hall in N. Bethesda, MD. She is represented by the Obelyn Gallery in Annapolis, MD. A member of Gallery West in Alexandria, VA.  Mary will have an exhibit, "Images of Costa Rica: Monotypes and Mixed-Media Paintings," at Gallery West, 205 S. Union St., Alexandria, Virgina, from April 8 to April 25. The gallery is open Thursday through Sunday from 11 to 6.  There will be two receptions: Thursday, April 8 from 5 to 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 11, from 2 to 5 p.m. (Gallery West is located two blocks south of the Torpedo Factory).  Her printmaking concentrates on monotypes, one-of-a-kind prints. Mary's work can also be seen at Gallery West.

Mary's artwork reflects her interest in color, texture, and design. The interplay of these elements can be seen in her collages, monotypes, and acrylic and mixed media paintings. Using an expressive style, she produces work that ranges from representational to nonrepresentational.

Her monotypes are produced by creating a painting on a flat, smooth surface (a "plate") and then printing the design on a piece of paper using a hand-operated etching press or some other means to transfer the design from the plate to the paper. Once the design is transferred from the plate, very little of the original design is left on the plate. For this reason there is only one print, a monotype, made from the image that was originally on the plate.

Generally, Mary uses a piece of Plexiglas as her plate and uses etching or lithographic ink to produce the image. She always uses archival-quality paper for her monotypes. Among the types of monotype that she creates are transparency, viscosity, and trace monotypes. Frequently she collages thin pieces of paper onto a monotype to create a finished work.

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