mary-helen horne

For Mary-Helen Horne, trees embody the essence of nature.

Using arbitrary color and semi-abstract forms, the Florida-based printmaker explores the shifting play of shadow, light, growth, and decay found in forest environments.

“I’m drawn to the feeling that lingers after time among trees – something steady, yet increasingly at risk,” said Horne.

Artist: Horne grew up in Okemos, MI. After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in socioeconomics, Horne began her career in corporate operations, married and raised a son in Atlanta, GA. She moved to Tampa. FL, in 2006.

Horne took up her artistic journey after retiring in 2021, training with distinguished artists and printmakers locally and across the U.S. and building her portfolio.

Company/studio: In 2023, Horne opened her studio at Kress Contemporary in Tampa’s historic Ybor City.

Art & materials: Prints that draw from relief and monotype techniques. She uses a growing library of hand-carved linoleum blocks and clear plastic plates to build textured, light-infused compositions with positive, negative, and fractured impressions.

Monoprints range in size from 12 inches square to more than 3 by 4 feet. Prices range from $175 to $2,500.

“I work in series, printing with non-toxic, soy-based inks on cotton and mulberry papers,” said Horne. “Each piece is a monoprint – one of a kind rather than part of an edition.”

Themes: Her current body of work reflects the trees and plants native to Florida, primarily live oak, sabal (or cabbage) palms and slash pine.

Many pieces focus on the canopy layer and relate to komorebi, the Japanese notion of light filtering through leaves and branches.

“The monoprint ‘To touch the very peace’ looks upward into a stand of slash pines, offering the sense of being held within the gentle strength of these tall, stately trees,” said Horne.

Tools:

Carves with woodcut tools on battleship-grey linoleum.
Inks plates using brayers, brushes, and her hands.
Uses Akua inks, invented by Susan Rostow when she was pregnant and needed a safer alternative to traditional oil-based inks.
Etching press is a Takach press named “Patsy,” after Horne’s mother.

Inspirations:

Aesthetics: Katsushika Hokusai and other Edo-period artists.
Color and scale: Helen Frankenthaler, abstract expressionist painter and printmaker
Process and technique: Catherine Kernan, contemporary printmaker based in Boston from whom Horne learned many of the techniques she uses in her work.

Special collector experience: A couple visited Horne’s studio after seeing her monoprint “Here we were happy” at Florida CraftArt Gallery in St. Petersburg.

“They wanted to understand more about my process and inspiration,” said Horne. “So I offered to create photo mockups of several pieces in their home to help them decide.”

During the email correspondence that followed, Horne said she shared the story behind the title which honors the Hawaii palm conservation garden planted by the U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin and his wife Paula over 40 years. When they died, their ashes were buried in the forest they created, with the epitaph “Here we were happy.”

It turned out that the couple knew and admired Merwin’s poetry, said Horne. The story deepened their connection to the monoprint, and they chose to bring “Here we were happy” into their home.

Recent honors:

Selected for two competitive emerging-artist programs: “Fresh Squeezed 9” at the Morean Arts Center and Florida CraftArt’s Emerging Artist Program. 2025.

Named by Creative Loafing as a Tampa Bay “emerging artist to watch in 2026.”
Awarded “Best in Category” at Bay Area Art Show 19. 2026.
Received the Akua Inks Prize for the worldwide Print Day in May for “To touch the very peace.” 2026.
Accepted into two international juried exhibitions: the 2026 Boston Printmakers North American Biennial and the 10th Biennial Footprint International Competition sponsored by the Center for Contemporary Printmaking.

Recent project: Created two monoprints for an exhibition honoring the history and impact of female printmakers in Pinellas County. The exhibition will be held at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. July-December 2026.

Where to buy: