Pinaleno Mountains

Gordon Louis Mortensen

The Pinaleño Mountains are a remote range in southeastern Arizona. The mountains have over 7,000 feet of vertical relief but in his woodcut Pinaleno Mountains, Mortensen focuses on the lush spring vegetation of a meadow. Opuntia, commonly called the prickly pear cactus, found at the center of the image clearly identifies this as a desert scene. The highly timbered, blue-green mountains are offset by a golden sky.

Gordon Mortensen commented on the 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 the first color in the finished print. After each subsequent color is printed, the block is cut, the process continues until the print is finished and most of the surface of the block is cut away."