First and foremost, Bradford artist and printmaker J. Ann Eldridge is a storyteller.

Her subjects? Bugs. Rocks. Moles. The outdoors in general. Instead of novels, she prefers reading about the science of the natural world, from horizontal gene transfer to deep ecology evolution.

“I am not really a live-and-die for art kind of person,” Eldridge said during an interview in her Bradford studio, a rustic barn that overlooks rolling hills and Lake Massasecum. “I could have gone into biology or farming, but I didn’t. And in a way, this has ended up working out for the better.”

She’s been printmaking for decades, and yet, still hasn’t tired of using art to tell these stories, which come to her while spending time in her garden; while going on walks with her husband and their 10-year-old dog, Dodger; while collecting data for Bradford’s conservation commission; and while writing nature essays for the local paper, the Bradford Bridge.

Wherever she goes, Eldridge carries a notebook, sketchbook or both. Then, when back in the studio, she transfers these ideas into black and white intaglio prints, using the centuries-old method of etching drawings onto metal plates and running them through an etching press.

Winter is her most productive season, so these cold months are spent hunkered down inside her studio, tucked away on a rural dirt road. Dodger alerts her whenever visitors arrive at the front door but mostly sits beside her as she turns her thoughts into something tangible.

A recent print, “Too Dry for Fish,” depicts a rocky brook in the woods, not a trout to be found. Etched into one of the rocks is a note: “Too often too dry.” Some prints have underlying messages about the environment; others simply illustrate the plants and creatures she meets outside, from the wild turkeys to the porcupines that take apples out of your hand.

“I’m not doing anything unusual. Almost anyone can go outside in their backyard and see what I’m seeing. I guess I’m trying to get a connection between people and the outdoors,” she said.

Eldridge, who grew up in central Massachusetts, always loved the natural world and had an early knack for drawing. While studying at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Eldridge says she found printmaking upon discovering she was a “terrible painter,” and later learned the intricacies of the intaglio process from a woman in Worcester, whose etching press Eldridge would later inherit.

During the interview, Eldridge talked about the history of this process and the dichotomy of handmade prints in a digital, modern world. Prints of the same design should pretty much look the same – and yet, part of the charm is that each print is unique, having been created by hand.

“This is the original use of the word print. A print is not a reproduction. Once and awhile, someone at a show will say, ‘Okay, so if this is a print, where is the original?’ But this is the original,” Eldridge said. “Physically, there’s a lot more depth to it. You have the edge of the plate. The ink actually sticks out a little. And that makes the black look blacker.”

After nearly 30 years renting the same old barn, Eldridge has decided it’s time for a change. She and her husband are in the midst of constructing a new energy-efficient studio with running water 50 feet from their newly-built home on the other side of town.

The hope is that by summer, once the structure is complete, she’ll have more time. More time to pull together the essays she’s written into a book. More time to expand her garden. More time to plant some cranberries. More time to connect with people directly at shows, galleries and fairs, including the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s fair in Sunapee. And, most importantly, more time to work.

“Fellow artists talk about this. How far do you need to be away from the house? If you’re in the house, you’re kind of doomed. You’ll check the stove. You’ll do the laundry. But if you’re a certain distance away – especially if you’re not connected to the internet – there’s a certain distance where you can be like, okay, I’m working,” she said.

Eldridge has no plans of slowing down. If anything, her work becomes more urgent as time goes on. This day was particularly warm for January, temperatures in the air higher than the snow on the ground, creating a patchy fog over the valley.

“I’m starting a very small plate of a snowdrift. I used to feel very fond of the last snow banks, and now it’s come to mean that it could be the last snowbank,” Eldridge said.

Sometimes she’ll become discouraged when, at a show, people don’t recognize the plants and animals in her prints. But then she’ll make a connection with someone who wants to buy a piece, which pushes her to keep going.

Learn more about Eldridge and her work at jaeldridge.com.

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