From the time I was very young I was somewhat compulsive about drawing, doing it when maybe I should have been doing other things.

In college, after receiving my Master's Degree at San Jose State University, I turned to etching. As it happened, I got to the point where I was tired of admiration for oversized, heavily textured oil paintings. "Bigness" was the dominant aesthetic of the time — if your painting was so large you could hardly get it through the door, you were really hot.

I was in need of something more intimate in terms of statement making. I wanted to go inside and explore various concepts, and etching with all its inherent difficulties offered such an opportunity. The knowledge that I could use extra plates and employ and mix colors through variously bitten aquatints was a great challenge. Mastering multiple plate etching was a frustrating challege. I suppose that's why I enjoy it and keep returning to it. It never ceases to challenge me and demand that I give it my best shot whether it's chine colle or demanding multiple plate prints.

I thank the Fort Mason Printmakers for their help.

In the early eighties I started to work in gouache, which has remained the medium of choice which gives me the greatest personal pleasure. It was in gouache that I developed my figurative style, drawing mostly from my imagination. The speed with which one must work in order to keep the colors clean and bright is a constant challenge and pleasure when I succeed. It allows for the greatest personal application in terms of facial and bodily expressions, so important to certain content.

—Roberta Loach