Dawn, Mount St. Helens from Coldwater

Micah Schwaberow

Micah Schwaberow, like his teacher Toshi Yoshida, printed this color woodcut of Mount St. Helens in Southern Washington, north of Portland, Oregon, in different times of the day. Using the same blocks he varies the color to reflect the position of the sun.

This image of the mountain at dawn has a reddish orange sky and deep blue mountain and lilac clouds. The view is from Coldwater, Washington - a lake that was created in 1980 as a result of the eruption.

Mount St. Helens is an active volcano that erupted in May of 1980, blowing the north top off the mountain and killing an estimated 57 people, depositing ash in 11 western states and causing a column of smoke and ash 80,000 feet high. In total, Mount St. Helens released 24 megatons of thermal energy, seven of which were a direct result of the blast. This is equivalent to 1,600 times the size of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

Though the subject of the woodcut appears serene it remains an active volcano within its core.