Beckman, Siri (1942 - )

Genre: Illustrator

Siri Beckman, a Stonington resident (born Feb. 23, 1942), is an artist/writer whose wood engravings and monotypes have appeared in the Island Institute's Island Journal as well as in her own limited edition books and in the books of other writers and poets.

She earned a B.A. from Lake Forest College in Illinois and an M.F.A. in book arts and printmaking from the University of Arts, Philadelphia.

A highly respected teacher who has taught at various colleges and art centers such as the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, she is an adjunct professor in the Department of Art. She owns Out of the Woods Press.

Beckman's wood engravings are in both private and museum collections and have been exhibited at numerous museums and special libraries. A 1993 exhibit at the Houghton Library, Harvard, was accompanied by a catalog titled Why Artists' Books?: Siri Beckman, Meryl Brater, Brian D.Cohen, Deborah Davidson, Laura Davidson, Roberta Delaney, Jean Evans, Becky Hunt, Joyce McDaniel, Peter Maden, Maria Muller, Stephanie Stigliano.

Selected Bibliography

Author

• A Dog Named Blackberry (1989)
• A Small Victory (1991)
• In Away (1992).
• A Week at the Lake (1998) The book is a diary of a vacation taken by Grace Butterfield Dow in 1932. A trade paperback of the book was published by Down East Books in 2001.
• Lighthouse (1993) is a small accordion-folded artist book with ten wood engravings.

Illustrator

• The Tinker of Salt Cove by Susan Hand Shetterly (1990)
• Crossing the Field by Kate Barnes (1992)
• Speaking of New England: The Place & Her People: 72 Poems by 56 of Her Poets, Past and Present (1993), edited by Richard Aldridge.