Sunday, January 17, 2010

Fern Appreciation

We ventured to San Francisco this weekend and I was more than amused to see the room decor. I took a long appreciative look at these fern prints and must say that they are wonderful but not as mysterious and three dimensional as the ferns created using gelatin plates.

We were able to see Gail Wight's exhibition, Restless Dust, at the San Francisco Center for the Book. She explores art, nature, and the city with the ghost of Darwin. The exhibit appealed to my math and science background as well as my appreciation of history. Several of the display cases contained materials and techniques she had explored and rejected for various reasons. For example, she created a series of birds, testing various papers. I could appreciate the decision she made for the final pair of birds; the day before I purchased the same paper at a "Going Out of Business" sale at a Market Street Art Store and I loved it because of it was strong yet translucent. I also bought a number of big tubes of printing ink for more gelatin prints—all in metallics. I cannot wait to play.

2 comments:

dguff said...

Thanks for sharing your SF excursion. When one can't get there in person, it is nice to see and experience the visit from someone who was able to attend.

Michele said...

One of the things I enjoyed most about the exhibit was that it provided an opportunity to see how an artist plays with the materials before deciding what she might finally use. I read a wonderful book, ART AND FEAR, that recommends reading autobiographies of artists because their process is every bit as important as the result. Watching our group members work during the gelatin printmaking workshop was such a treat just for that reason--you in particular!