Bill Ritchie's art in Washington State
in
the
Billie Jane & Eric Bryan Collection
Target Heart I
Provenance: 1971. Lithograph drawn on stone. Printed light green solid background and black image, 9 5/8 X 12 5/8 in on 12 5/8 X 15 1/4 in Van Gelder Zonen natural buff.
Comment: The crayon manner of drawing lithographs is an antique approach to the art of lithography on stone, and it is a great way to contemplate and entertain oneself through inner dialogs. The placid water in which my imaginary target is half-submerged equals my state of mind when I draw this way, or, similarly, with silverpoint. Target I was the first in its series. Several followed and theyl started with the crayon manner. I built strong easels for the stones-- weighing up to 100 pounds each--to be like a drawing or painting surface.
This is a stock image of the artwork - not a photo of the owner's actual print
My Father's Farm
Provenance: 1972. Print. Intaglio and relief printed from etched plate in thalo green w/black, blue and yellow on Arches Cover white. Image 16 1/4 X 22 3/4 in on 20 3/4 X 29 3/4 in. No. ___. Signed lower right. Collections also Gloria Abbenhouse, Lee Altman, Everett Public Library, Dr. Charles McCann, Jocelyn Curry & Rick Asher, Kay Pruvich, Lynda Ritchie, Kathryn Sharp, Nellie Adelle Ritchie Sunderland, Seattle Juvenile Center and others.
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.
"Bridge's Heart 7"
Comment: "The Henry Gallery Association wanted new members and, as an incentive to join, offered a print. Commissioned to produce the print, I was excited and worked hard, eager to please. It went badly. The harder I worked the uglier the print became. I made plates and pulled many states. Finally I threw out the design entirely. Then it came all at once! A lithograph, from a different series, and using corduroy and soft ground to get the effect of raster lines (from my video work) made for an entirely new direction. Things fell into place and “Bridges Heart” was one of my most successful prints. It’s the only print of mine that the Henry Gallery has in its permanent collection."
Exhibitions and Awards: Puyallup Art Exhibition, "Best in Show," juried by Gervais Reid, et. al., September, 1973. Puyallup WA; Lubbock Invitational, Purchase Prize (State Proof), 1973. Lubbock, TX; Philadelphia Print Club Open Competition. Stewart M. Egnal Prize Purchase Award. Sylvan Cole, Andrew Stasik, Janet Flint, jurors. 1973. Philadelphia PA; Jane Haslem Gallery, 1974. Washington, DC.; National Print Invitational , Georgia Southern College, 1973, Statesboro, GA; 20th Annual Print Exhibition, 1973, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY; 1st Annual Images on Paper, Purchase Award. Feb-Mar, 1973. Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL
Sweet Target Hearts No. 7
Provenance: 1976 Lithograph, intaglio, relief, chine-colle. Gray, brown, orange, black, ochre, yellow. Image(s) 19 1/2 X 14 3/4 in. each on 29 1/2 X 42 in. Arches Cover. Signed lower right, "A/P To Jane" Collections also of Sam Davidson, Lynda Ritchie, Gordon Sondland, Nellie and Mike Sunderland, The Evergreen State College and others. Exhibited at Northwest Printmakers, Anacortes and Everett Art Festivals.
Comment: One of the best-documented prints I did in terms of keeping notes--available on the Web--because it bridge the time in 1975-1976 that I made my first trip from Seattle to Japan and back. This trip--or bridge--served me in ways similar to my old heroes of the Northwest School, the painters Graves, Toby and their kind. The name comes from a strange source--cartoons and pop music!
Two drawings on lithograph stones that started out to be a continuation of the Target Heart Series (I had one about five before) but then I got something like "writer's block." I was in a dilemma as to what to do until I went to Japan and discovered it is "all right" to repeat myself in my art and craft. I wrote an essay about, too. C. T. Chew helped me through it.
It was hard to list this as a "lithograph" when I wrote down the methods I used to make this print. I settled on the drawings on stone because they got the thing started. Then I added and added and added to my plates--even got C. T. Chew to add his collagraphs! -- until they came together as you see them now. The making of the Sweet Target Heart suite of prints spans almost a year in which one of my biggest dilemmas seemed to reach resolution. That was what I call the dilemma of redundant art. Then again, I am not sure. You can contact Lynda for similar prints at ritchie@seanet.com. Also, ask about an essay, "On Sweet Target Hearts," on the resolution of my dilemma is available in the Perfect Press 'Zine.
(Actual photo of the impression unavailable - may vary from the above)
Little Spaceship Crash
Provenance: 1977. Print. Intaglio, relief, stencil, litho. Ochre, red, blue, black, gray. Image 12 X 9 in on 15 X 11 3/4 in Van Gelder Zonen (natural, buff) paper. No. 2/25/77III Artist's Proof. Signed lower right.
Comment: Spanning two years of development and about 75 impressions, Little Spaceship Crash was the seed for a larger work. These came out of the movie, Planet of the Apes. I like to tell the story about the path flown by the helicopter filming it, and then my entry into computers graphics and how I learned the X-Y-Z of IT. This print was test of methods I would need for a larger version, then the tests resulted in an edition that stood on its own.
Institutions and corporate collections: Art Planning Consultants, New York, NY; Baker University, Baldwin, KS; Landau/Alexander Gallery, Los Angeles CA;Oregon Arts Commission; Bill Mally Collection, University of Washington IMS, Seattle, WA; Norton Building, Seattle, WA; Teller Training Institute, Seattle, WA; United Pacific Reliance Corporation, CA; USIA Tokyo, Japan.
Exhibitions: Anne Hughes Gallery, Portland, OR; Davidson Galleries, Seattle, WA; DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA; Impressions Gallery, Boston, MA; Kiku Gallery, Seattle, WA; Silvermine Guild of Arts, New Canaan, CT; US Information Agency, Tokyo Japan; Visual Arts Center, Anchorage, AK
My Father's Farm from the Moon
Provenance: Print. 1974 - 1976. Intaglio, relief, chine-colle. Black, purple, gradation of orange, blue. Yellow, red ochre and burnt sienna. Ochre watercolor on Asian paper chine-colle'd on . Image size 38 X 27 1/2-inches on 42 X 32-inches Arches white cover paper. Printed from etched zinc plates and cut circuit board plastic, puzzle-pieced together. Un-numbered green variation indicated as T/P. Signed lower right.
Comment: The title is partly from My Father's Farm series and my video art. The inspiration came from the Lunch with Terry Riley video. C.T. Chew helped and wrote the accompanying song. The plates took two years to complete and many states existed before this one.
Exhibited: Exhibited and winner of awards in regional shows in Anacortes, Bellevue, Everett and Puyallup, WA; One-Man Show, Kiku Gallery, Seattle; 1st Editions Graphics Project, Oregon; Baltimore Museum of Art Print Club, MD; Brooklyn Print Exhibition, NY; National Print Invitational, Georgia Southern College, Statesboro, GA.
(Placeholder - this is not the Bryan's print)
"Locus and Sea Squares "
Provenance: Print. From a variable edition of 141. Printed with intaglio inks from a lacquered copper plate on light Japanese paper chine-colle'd to Van Gelder Zonen paper.
Comment: This print is from a series of 141 trial proofs and artist's proofs in "cycles" of approximately 15 each, of different color series. They are proofs which I made in the processes of cyanotype, woodcut, and intaglio techniques. The result is a series of monotypes. The images derive from three sources: The map is based on the Colorado River, a vicinity known once as the Crossing of the Fathers; the leaf-like shape I call locus--the path of a moving point (I drew these to help establish data for use in a computer program). The Great Wave was drawn to resemble the famous print by Hokusai. Besides the pleasure of meeting people who want to take this print into their personal collections, I have shown the print numerous times and it has given me many rewards, nationally & regionally.
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and the printed transcript by selecting: Transcript
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