Bill Ritchie's art in Washington State
in
the
Dennis Evans & Nancy Mee Collection
Possibly the largest collection of Bill Ritchie's art outside of their family
(Facsimile image of the impression in the Evans/Mee collection)
The Last Umbrella
Povenance: Print. 1967. Engraving, aquatint, relief and stencil print. Image 12 X 18 in printed on 16 3/4 X 23 in Rives BFK White paper. State IV, the exact Number within this state not available. Signed lower right.
About Dennis Evans and Nancy Mee: While I like and admire none of my former students less than Dennis and Nancy, they are important for the unique relationship they had with me and my family. I can name several of equal importance--or a dozen people who were with me during those important years when I was a professor, but Dennis and Nancy, each in their own way, bring memories of special events. I was fortunate to have Dennis on my side when he was a Teaching Assistant in my printmaking classes; but C. T. Chew was, too, just before Dennis entered graduate school. Nancy made use of the contacts I made in Europe more than anyone when she cobbled together her own study abroad program in Europe. In my memoirs of 1971-1980 and 1981-1990 where I describe what many former students did for me both during and after college, Dennis and Nancy have many pages. They live and work in Seattle at Utopian Heights Studios, "Where imagination is more powerful than knowledge."
Comment about The Last Umbrella: Engraving, for me, is a slow process. I love detail, and the distinct smart lines. I started the plate in San Jose in 1966. The cat-like image is based on an old cat we had named Tristan. Months later I resumed the engraving in Seattle and I added a zinc plate for the upturned umbrella and the trees. With etching, I used aquatint and in the last states, relief "rainbow rolling" and a metal stencil. I can see now--writing about it over 40 years later--the print has autobiographical elements. Oh, the stories it tells me now!
See another Last Umbrella in a collection - click Dr. Raye Lyle's and David Prentice' pages.
The illustrations here a place-holders, only
facsimiles of the actual prints in the Evans-Mee
collection
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.2/21/77/III T/P2 and also (75?) 1977 Exp/imp. 5 and 2/7/77II T/P3. Both prints signed lower right.
Bill's Comment about the Little Spaceship Crash: 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.
Target Heart II
Provenance: 1972. Lithograph drawn on stone. Printed light green, sienna, black and overprinted white with rose tint, 19 1/2 X 13 3/4 in. on 24 X 18 in. Van Gelder Zonen natural buff. Signed lower right.
Comment: Crayon manner drawing on stone is slow and exacting the way I did it, and a good way to contemplate my theme. This was when trees were taking the background to the bridge series and target hearts.
Placeholder, this grayscale image above is similar to the color print.
Locus and the Sea Squares
Provenance: Print from a variable edition of 141 impressions. Most were 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.
Click here to see the process of Bill printing this print
and the printed transcript by selecting: Transcript
The transcript can now be downloaded free: Transcrip
See the Patron's List for more peoples' collections - click here