October 2009
Journey through Light and Color
Dan Welden
Nancy Bardos
Mary Laird
Cathy Deforest
New York artist, Dan Welden returns to Illahe Studios and Gallery, along with Cathy DeForest, Nancy Bardos, and Mary Laird presenting works of intaglio etchings, vitreographs, mixed media, and artist books. These combined talents will be represented in our October exhibit, Journey through Light and Color.
All four artists will display new work inspired by their summer travels. Dan Welden, Cathy DeForest and Mary Laird recently returned from teaching a workshop at the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy. Nancy Bardos shows work resulting from her travels in France and Spain.
Dan Welden Boone Bingo
Dan Welden is a printmaker and painter who has had over 60 national and international solo exhibitions, including shows in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Switzerland, Peru, Japan, and Germany. He has been the recipient of grants from The Ministry of Dutch Culture in Belgium, The Amata Aboriginal Community in Australia, and the Diocesan School in Auckland, New Zealand. Dan has collaborated and/or printed for many prominent artists including: Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Erick Fischl, Louisa Chase, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Larry Rivers, Dan Flavin, Jim Dine, Robert Motherwell, Linda Benglis, David Salle and Kurt Vonnegut.
Dan is also responsible for the discovery and development of the “solarplate” process and is co-author with Pauline Muir of “Printmaking in the Sun.” As an educator, he has established his own international school for the past 5 years in Florence, Italy; Lima, Peru; Tokyo, Japan; Mykonos, Greece; Corsica; France, and Iceland.
Dan Welden approaches his art as a series, usually pushing and pulling its boundaries to process-oriented works on paper. As a “green” thinking person, his work involves the observation of lines and patterns created by animals on grasslands, usually seen with raking light. The pathways created by erosive waterways within the earth also intrigue him. Although the inspiration of these patterns originated in New Zealand, he is influenced also by his love of travel to many other places.
As both a printmaker and painter, the passion in his work includes many a playful line, usually dancing and meandering within the composition. His use of color generally echoes the particular environment that he works within.
Nancy Bardos "Tempus Fugit"
A cross-country trip in 1971 cemented Nancy Bardos’ love of photography. So much to see and shoot! The next year a friend published the first male nude calendar in this country…..it was called, “Ladies Home Companion” and came on the heels of the Burt Reynolds centerfold in Cosmopolitan Magazine. The calendar, comprised of sepia-toned, elegantly vignetted, discreet photos, caused quite a stir in the early 70s. She was thrilled when her photo of a friend on a La Jolla, California beach was selected for the Time Magazine story on this not-your-run-of-the-mill calendar. A few years later she used her photography and darkroom skills as P.R. Director for The Women’s Professional Golf Tour. Following that, she was constantly surrounded by wonderful images from photographers around the world in her capacity as Production Manager for a calendar and greeting card publisher in Palo Alto, California. Opening up packets of submissions was like opening presents on Christmas morning!
She continued to do her own photography during this period and realized that repeat patterns like rows of benches, or rows of anything always tugged at her sleeve. Eventually, she noticed and fell in love with the vintage look of hand-tinted B&W photos and found this technique not only visually appealing but completely relaxing. In a proverbial nutshell, photography thus became a way for her to make “marks” on paper…today she usually add more marks with a variety of mixed media. The act of shooting the image always provides a spark of pure excitement for her; altering the image later, however, is wondrously soothing.
Mary Laird
Mary Laird, MFA printmaking, University of Wisconsin, Madison, has been doing letterpress books since 1969 as Quelquefois Press. She partnered in Perishable Press Limited editions from 1969-84. Ms. Laird has taught letterpress at San Francisco State University, Kala Institute in Berkeley, Naropa University, and at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Her work is in many collections across the country. She has three grown children, lives in Berkeley with her husband John Malork, and is a member of the Sufi community.
Cathy DeForest
Cathy DeForest is a northwest book artist and printmaker who integrates printmaking, photography, drawing, mixed media and letterpress into her artist books. Cathy specializes in one-of-a-kind books based on found objects and small editions of letterpress books. In addition to selling over 3,000 letterpress broadsides of her work, her books are in national collections and have been exhibited widely including: San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts Museum, Oakland Museum, Yale University, University of Santa Barbara, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Seattle City Center, and San Francisco Public Library. She founded and directed two galleries in the past 10 years, one in San Francisco and Gallery DeForest in Ashland, Oregon. Cathy has been teaching and mentoring since 1968 and is a member of Pacific Center for the Book Arts, California Society of Printmakers, Seattle Print Arts, Artist Conference Network, and a supporter of the SF Center For the Book since its inception. Cathy recently exhibited her work and taught a workshop in creating artists’ books at the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy through Dan Welden’s International Workshops. Currently, she teaches and works in her new studios in a farmhouse just outside of Ashland. She is also in exhibitions concurrently in the SF Bay area and the Grant’s Pass Museum of Art. Her work can be viewed at: www.gallerydeforest.com