Pat Prosek’s love of art began during childhood summers spent on an island along the Jersey Shore. Born and educated in Philadelphia, Pat was surrounded by coastal waters, marshes, birds and nature. At just seven years old, she began working at the local Foundation of the Arts, where she went on location to sketch and paint with watercolors.

Those early experiences left a lasting impression. Pat remembers drawing freely, without worrying about whether her work was “good enough.” Sometimes she wishes she could recapture that same confidence and lack of self-consciousness today.

Her favorite subjects included the birds inhabiting the marshes and waters near her summer home, especially egrets and cranes. She spent hours observing and drawing them, never imagining that these graceful creatures would become a recurring theme throughout her artistic life.

Today, Pat is a printmaker, a medium she has practiced for half her life. She works primarily with commercial printmaking inks and specialized paper, sometimes incorporating rice paper, foil paper and textiles. She has her own printing press and a studio aptly named “Under Pressure,” since pressure is essential to the process.

Each print is created by hand, and Pat is quick to point out that printmaking is a fine art, not an automatic reproduction process. “Don’t think Xerox,” she says with a smile.

Much of Pat’s work combines two important influences: the peaceful coastal landscapes of her childhood and her mother’s extensive collection of Far Eastern art. Pat studied art from the Ming and Qing dynasties and became fascinated by their designs, water imagery and screens. Combining those influences with her lifelong love of water birds, she developed her own interpretation of Far Eastern art.

The crane remains one of her favorite subjects. She is drawn to its elegant form and graceful lines, as well as its symbolism in ancient Chinese culture, where it represents purity, grace and immortality.

Pat once challenged herself to create a screen measuring four feet wide and two and a half feet high, inspired by screens from the Qing dynasty. The project required considerable patience, precision and bookbinding skills. She completed it successfully, although the experience also helped her recognize some of her physical limits as an artist.

After moving to California in the late 1980s, Pat became increasingly interested in environmentally friendly printmaking. Traditional methods can involve hazardous chemicals, so she sought safer alternatives, including solar plates that use sunlight rather than toxic acids to create printing plates.

Pat has also taught printmaking, encouraging students to bring their own ideas and perspectives to the process. She believes everyone who truly wants to learn has something unique to contribute, and she enjoys learning from her students as much as teaching them.

Pat, her husband and their three daughters moved to Lafayette in the late 1980s, drawn by its unique combination of rural and urban life. Today, she is a member of Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek, Moraga Art Gallery and Studio 55 in Martinez.

After all these years, Pat has no regrets about becoming a printmaker. Why did she choose the medium in the first place? With a laugh, she offers a wonderfully simple explanation: “I had a crush on my printmaking teacher in college.”