Dodie Warren (1929-2018) was a key figure in Hawaii’s printmaking community. Born in Pittsburgh, she earned a BS degree in zoology from Chatham College in 1950 and became a scientific illustrator for the Felton Design Studio in Washington, D.C. She studied watercolor in San Francisco. She moved to Hawaii in 1965 and continued watercolor studies with Hon Chew Hee. She became interested in printmaking after taking a class at the University of Hawaii and went on to earn an MFA degree in printmaking there in 1979. She chose to devote herself primarily to the time-consuming and labor-intensive medium of mezzotint for which she is best known.
Warren was a self-taught artist. She taught herself anatomical drawing by studying pictures of sculptures in encyclopedias. After seeing a book that included mezzotints, she searched in vain for someone in Hawaii to teach her. Failing that, she researched and experimented with tools and materials until she attained mastery.
She was a master of light and shadow created with exacting methods depicting intimate spaces. Her work contributed to the national resurgence of highly nuanced techniques. Her subjects were often locations and items in her daily life – rooms, chairs, staircases and other seemingly ordinary places and objects were rendered with subtlety and an atmosphere of contemplation and tranquility.
For many years she taught courses in mezzotint, photogravure, and other printmaking methods at the Honolulu Museum of Art School (HoMA). She traveled to many parts of the world and what she experienced also found its way into her work and teaching.
Warren’s relationship with HoMA was a long one. She taught beginning and advanced classes there starting in 1976. Initially, she taught adult watercolor classes but when that lost its challenge, she switched to teaching printmaking where she mentored many printmakers now prominent in the art community.
Her first solo exhibition was at HoMA in 1991 where she was described as “a printmaker’s printmaker.” Another HoMA exhibition was installed in 2018, and focused on her collection of mezzotints. A 35-year retrospective of her work was seen at the Koa Gallery at Kapiolani Community College in 2004. Her work is in the collections of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the Honolulu Museum of Art, various corporations and private collections.
Awards include:
1976 National League of American Penwomen (first prize, watercolor)
1978 Laramie Art Guild National Miniature Art Exhibit
1978 Hawaii Watercolor Society Exhibit
1987 Hawaii Watercolor Society (first prize)
1996 Honolulu Printmakers (member gift print, annual exhibition)
The HoMA community recently suffered a great loss as beloved friend, teacher and colleague Dodie Warren passed away. Warren is well-remembered by her impact on the local printmaking community—both through her warm personality and beautiful artwork.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1929, Warren attended Chatham College and graduated in 1950 with a BA in zoology. She worked as a scientific illustrator on the mainland, moving to the islands in 1965. Four years later, she took up printmaking. In 1979, Warren completed her MFA from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and began to focus mainly on mezzotints, which she later became well-known for.
Earlier this year, the museum featured Warren’s work in the exhibition Shadow Play: Mezzotints by Dodie Warren, on view from March 29 to June 24 in the Works on Paper Gallery. The exhibition displayed Warren’s impressive collection of mezzotints, which is when an image surfaces from dark to light through a tedious, labor-intensive technique involving a rocker and copperplate. Her mezzotints, which took hours to rock, capture light as beautifully as a photograph. Shady gardens, downward views of staircases and sunlit windows, Warren’s art evokes a sense of tranquility and contemplation in an almost unreplicable capability.
As an artist, Warren was self-taught. The genesis of her anatomy drawing background was studying pictures of sculptures in encyclopedias. Later, she stumbled upon an 18th-century book containing mezzotints. Intrigued, she looked for someone in Hawai‘i who could teach her more about the process but to no avail. So she took it upon herself. Through research and finding the proper tools, she mastered the arduous skill on her own.
Warren found her subject matter through her daily life—like staircases at Linekona and the interior of her Kailua studio—and extensive travels. She had seen much of the globe, from Japan to Rome.
She also generously shared her knowledge with others. Starting in 1976, she was an instructor at the Art School, teaching watercolor and later printmaking.
“In the class, we could work with a variety of intaglio (etching) media, but Dodie’s special contribution was to prepare the studio several times each term for photogravure, another exacting medium that required special equipment and chemistry,” former student Marcia Morse says. “It seemed like there was nothing Dodie didn’t know about intaglio printmaking, and she was always generous in sharing information and commentary. She also helped to create a working environment that became a real community. We all loved and admired her—and I think we also felt that working with her was a real and enduring gift.”
Warren’s relationship with HoMA was longstanding. Her first solo exhibition was 27 years ago in 1991, called Light in Interior Spaces: The Graphic Art of Dodie Warren. “The Academy is pleased to exhibit such a richly illuminated and mysteriously evocative body of work…” the 1991 HoMA Calendar News read. In this article, she was aptly called a “printmaker’s printmaker.”
“I started printmaking with Dodie many years ago during an interim session at U.H. and she was an inspiration from the beginning,” fellow printmaker Shirley Hasenyager says. “Her grasp of the medium, her patience, and wonderful design sense were all exceptional. When introduced to etching she said it was love at first scratch.”