Bill Ritchie's art in Washington State
 
in the

Jeanne Metzger Collection

"Cyanotypes"

Provenance: 1982. Cyanotype Commemorative Poster from Triangle Studios.  Six-color offset lithograph. Tones of blue, overprinted with transparent gloss yellow process PMS inks on white 165 lb Warren Patina pH Neutral paper. 40 X 24 3/4 in. Signed.

Artist's Comment: "Though this poster was printed by offset lithography, we made the plates from hand-drawn masters. To create the blended colors I worked with the plate maker and printer plus I mixed the inks. Three sources make the image: A map of the Colorado River, a leaf-like diagram the artist uses for computer animation and the famous woodblock print by Hokusai titled "The Great Wave . . ." I was influenced by cartography, computer technology and Japanese culture and also my family and studio mates as I thought of names for my fantasy map."

Jeanne Metzger wrote art reviews in the 1970's, and in her review my show at Seattle Pacific University, she opened with the heading, Art – A continuing process?

“If you go along with artist Bill Ritchie’s belief that art doesn’t have to be a finished product - that it can be a continuing process - he must be accepted as having one of the most investigative, productive minds around. Ritchie, who is an assistant professor in the school of art at the University of Washington, is not satisfied to let art lie comfortable in a gallery or museum. His acceptance of the ‘art is open-ended’ thesis has allowed him to work with many forms of artistic expression other than the making of prints and drawings for which he is best known.” - The Everett Herald