Sherborn Woods by Gordon Louis Mortensen

Sherborn Woods by Gordon Louis Mortensen

Sherborn Woods

Gordon Louis Mortensen

Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.
Title

Sherborn Woods

 
Artist
Year
1989  
Technique
color reduction woodcut, printed in 28 colors with 27 press runs 
Image Size
22 x 29 7/8" image size 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
35 of 130  
Annotations
pencil titled, dated, editioned, and copyrighted 
Reference
 
Paper
ivory Rives Heavyweight wove 
State
published 
Publisher
artist 
Inventory ID
23377 
Price
$700.00 
Description

This vivid autumnal scene captures the brilliant golden fall colors and cool shadows along a pathway in the Town Forest of Sherborn, Massachusetts. According to the website for Sherborn, the town has about 1,000 acres of public-access land, about half of which is Town Forest. The land is mostly wooded and consists of a series of parcels running in a crescent belt from the Charles River in the southeast to the near the Framingham border in the northwest. The public has free access to all parts of the forest and numerous trails are available for walking or riding.

"Sherborn Woods" is a large composition for this exacting reductive medium, sometimes called a "suicide print" because there is no going back as the block disappears. This image is 22 x 30 inches, and required 27 separate press runs to create the 28 colors used.

Gordon Mortensen commented on the reduction process he uses: "Only one woodblock is used. On it an image is drawn in India ink. Before the first color is printed, any areas that are to remain unprinted (white or the color of the paper) are cut away from the surface of the block. Then an oil base ink is used to print the first color on all of the sheets of paper that are to be used for the edition and proofs. After the first printing the block is again cut, removing any surface of the block that is to remain of the first color in the finished print. After each subsequent color is printed, the block is cut again, the process continues until the print is finished, and most of surface of the block is cut away."

 

Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.