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Polar bear with carrot

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Transferring Ink II

Evolution - Janet Mackaig

Saturday night Leslie and I went to the opening of the new exhibition at the Fallbrook Art Center, Transferring Ink II. Transferring Ink II is a show that celebrates both contemporary and historic printmaking. It was a superb show. Historic pieces ran the gamut from Rembrandt and Whistler, through the regionalists including Wood, Benton, Kent and Landacre to the modernists - Warhol, Stella and Chuck Close. Many pieces are for sale.

I was privileged to once again be a judge for the contemporary show along with my friend and cohort N. Dixon Fish. The entries were of extremely high quality this year, far better in my opinion than the material we had during the show's inception. Many of those pieces rejected were worthy of inclusion. We had tremendous submissions from as far away as London for the show this year. Dixon, a noted printmaker, had several of his own creations in the show.

The Blue Heron Gallery and many of my friends and clients were instrumental in loaning material for the show, principally good buddy Steve Stoops of Steven's Fine Art in Phoenix and Jim Swan, my great friend from Fallbrook. I am so lucky to live in a community that supports the arts like Fallbrook. Both the Art Center and the School of the Arts are civic treasures that everyone in the region should take pride in. It was a really nice crowd consisting mostly of a lot of people who work very hard for the betterment of our community.

Mary Perhacs, the director of the Art Center, did a very great job putting this one together. The walls looked great, Dixon broke down the descriptions of the technical foundations of printmaking perfectly. It was a show that was principally concerned with process, the  different methodologies for creating prints. An unusual juxtaposition to see the Rembrandt parked next to the Close but it carried and worked beautifully.

The crowd was agog with appreciation for the show and many of the contemporary artists were in attendance at the opening. If you have an interest in or want to learn about prints, I encourage you to visit the show.

Bowing Birds - Katherine Sheehan

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