I am a printmaker. The major portion of my work has been centered around the creation of original woodcuts and stone lithographs. The entire process of producing a print engrosses me. I draw the images, make the color separations, carve the wooden blocks or etch the lithographs, and then hand print all of the prints myself. I still print the woodcuts with a wooden spoon or baren which allows me greater flexibility and textural variety. I enjoy pushing the limits of size and color in woodcuts using a synthesis of Western and Eastern printing methods that I have developed over time. In lithography, I have primarily been interested in drawing on the stone because of the subtle range of values that can be achieved on its responsive surface. Moving back and forth between these two printmaking media, with their widely varying technical and expressive differences, has created a satisfying balance.

The symbols of realism have remained constant in human experience and possess powerful subconscious impact, accrued over millennia. Strongly tied to the physical commonalties between people, realistic imagery can be simultaneously accessible and profound. Through keenly focused observation of the natural world around me, realistic accuracy has become a search for truth. In the extended process of bringing an image into existence as a print, the significance of the subject matter - both abstractly and in personal growth - reveals itself. As a result, the work is both a record of my discoveries, and the dynamic process of growth in itself. Consciously using the physicality of objects as a door to growth and transcendence in this manner, I call intentional realism.

Cecilia Lieder is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has been an artist printmaker for over 35 years. With the exception of ten years living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, her professional life has been spent in Duluth, Minnesota. She now lives in Duluth's East Hillside neighborhood in a 117 year old vintage home. Her gallery for original prints, the Northern Prints Gallery, is located in the lower floor of this house. Her most recent awards are the Arrowhead Regional Arts Commission George Morrison Artist Award for lifetime achievement in the arts (2007) and the Depot Foundation Artist Award for art and arts activism (2006). She identifies herself as a regional artist, committed to making a difference in cultural awareness in Minnesota. She founded and directs the Northern Printmakers Alliance (1999) and the Northern Prints Gallery (2003). Most recently, she founded Calyx Press Duluth, a versatile small press which has produced award winning poetry books by Northeastern Minnesota regional poets.