Lifting our Eyes to the Mountains

an exhibit of mountain-themed prints by various of our roster of TNLG printmakers

March 25 - June 25

"Mama's Yama", color woodblock print by Lynita Shimizu

Evidence of the ever-changing forces of our earth’s crust, mountains can be from one viewpoint massive and looming, from another distant and crisp; our perception of mountains is especially responsive to the influence of our point of view. If we catch sight of them while cresting a hill in our car they might stand tall, if we see them far off from a flat sloping field they might shrink to become distant bystanders, blips on a long ridge-line at the far-off horizon. And if we get up into the mountains? The lofty views from mountains offer relief from stresses and troubles. We can gaze out and over the valleys in which we live out most of our lives and our troubles and anxieties become smaller. On mountaintops we sense diminishment’s of our attachments to worries and trouble. With this detachment comes a feeling of increased connection with the wind, with the air, with distant weather systems. This feeling is what we hope this show might do in some small way: offer glimpses of relief and perspective in a time of acute doubt and trouble.

"Bond Cliff", color woodblock print by Rick Gerber, 13" x 20.5"

Oh, now we are up in it for sure!
If you have climbed up into the heart of the Pemigewassett Wilderness area of the White Mtns. of NH, and have made it up onto the Bond Cliffs, you know how “far away from it all" mountains can seem to be. This printed image, which isn't small, offers a taste of that wonderful feeling of relief and isolation, an image of which might prove to be quite helpful if and when things get really bad.

"Migrant Sky", color linocut print by William Hays, 12" x 9"

William shared with me this print was not birthed on a mountaintop, it was inspired by a witnessing of a cloud effect from his back porch in downtown Brattleboro. The mountain feeling of the image is mostly invented!
Interesting. His isn't the first story I have heard of an artist describing the creation of an evocative image with a very real tactile feeling as actually being mostly from the mind's eye.

“Cole Mtn., VA", color woodblock print by John Amoss, 10" x 8"

Years ago John Amoss hiked the Appalachian Trail and summitted many, many mountains. He has produced a series of images from his AT experience. This one is from the Blue Ridge Mtns region of Virginia. It for sure tells the story that mountains orchestrate of earth to sky, of here to there, of the realm we dwell in to the realm of clouds and atmosphere. Nice work John!

“Hawks over Baldface", color woodblock print by Mary Graham, 6" x 4"

Mary Graham is painter of mountains (she has done wonderful work interpreting that interest and knowledge using the vocabulary of woodblock printing), but she also paints (and makes woodblock prints) imagery of those ubiquitous inhabitants of mountains: trees. In this image she adds other mountain inhabitants, a pair of hawks. These two hawks truly lend a feeling for the clearer, purer air that mountains inspire.

"Bond Cliff", color woodblock print by Rick Gerber, 13" x 20.5"

"Migrant Sky", color linocut print by William Hays, 12" x 9"

“Cole Mtn., VA", color woodblock print by John Amoss, 10" x 8"

“Hawks over Baldface", color woodblock print by Mary Graham, 6" x 4"

"Bond Cliff", color woodblock print by Rick Gerber, 13" x 20.5"