Bill Ritchie's art in Washington State
in the
Betty Balcom Estate Collection
"Tree in my yard "
Provenance: 1965. Three-color woodcutt. Image 14 X 8 3/4" on Asian paper. No. 3/5. Signed lower right. Also in the collections of Mr. and Mrs. Al Hyde (lost in house fire), Mrs. Dorgan and the Ritchie Family.
Bill Ritchie 's comment: Through the summer of '65 we lived in an apricot orchard, and one tree stood in our yard, it seemed to be dead but for a few forlorn leaves hear and there. Trees provided me with my inspiration and a series of relief prints.
This is a reasonable facsimile of the state proof
"My Father's Farm - State proof "
About Betty Balcom (1915-2004): She was an arts booster. Married to Maurice Balcom, she was one of Bill Ritchie's earliest supporters when he was a college student in Ellensburg as the Balcom and Moe company, owned and managed by Maurice, was based there. When the Balcoms lived in Seattle, she continued to support the arts as well as other institutions such as the Pike Place Market Foundation, the ballet and the art museum. She owned Globe Antiques until its closure in 1986. Her obituary is at http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20041008&slug=balcomobit08
Artist's Comment: My Father's Farm is named for the real place, where we used siphon hoses for irrigation. Those bright, early mornings were only a farm boy's memory in 1960. When I made this print in 1972, it was in very different world in which I had come to live. The image was composed from a video photograph made in my first video art experiments, using 16 mm film, facing toward Eastern Washington where my father's farm had been. The film was of a sunrise over the Cascade Mountains and the image was my drawing of the same title.
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