Southwest

Dorr Bothwell

"Southwest" is an alluring abstraction that reads somewhat like a topographical map of southwest, detailing the natural features of the region: forested mountains, rock formations, sand deposits, valley floors, and rivers.The color red in nature often represents danger so perhaps the red lines are cautionary reminders that within the region of the southwest there are many hazards.

Dorr Bothwell was self-taught in this medium and she stated: "So here I am, practically self-taught–certainly I taught myself serigraphy. I was on the cutting edge. At one point I was the only woman in Northern California doing this. This fits with myself in being an innovative person. Maybe artistically I'm not that hot–I believe that –but I've brought things along. And I'm still trying to learn, still trying to show the beauty and design underlying all."

Dorris Hodgson Bothwell, known as Dorr, was born in San Francisco in 1902. Her family moved to San Diego in 1911 and Bothwell began her art studies five years later with Anna Valentien. She returned to San Francisco in 1921 and enrolled in the California School of Fine Arts where she was greatly influenced by Gottardo Piazzoni. Bothwell continued her studies at the University of Oregon, Eugene and then returned to San Francisco where she attended the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design.

Bothwell moved to San Diego and then to Los Angeles where she joined the circle of post-surrealists which included Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundberg. She studied under Feitelson in classes organized by the Public Works of Art Project and she was accepted into the mural division of the WPA and painted murals in Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Francisco. During this time, Bothwell learned the technique of serigraphy.

In 1968, Bothwell and Marlys Mayfield co-wrote the book 'Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design,' which encompassed the principles developed in her teaching. She received the Abraham Rosenberg Fellowship, the 1979 San Francisco Women in the Arts award, and was twice awarded Pollock-Krasner grants.