27 December 2017

Wildfire


WILDFIRE
Watercolor woodblock (moku hanga)
11 x 17 inches (28 x 43 cm)
Made from 5 blocks, 9 hand-rubbed applications of color
Edition of 8 on Yukimi paper
Shapes derived from four video stills of a California wildfire.
___________________

2017 has been a remarkable year for the United States of America for many reasons, including the record-setting wildfires in California and other parts of the western USA. This year is the most expensive firefighting year on record for the US Forest Service with over $2 billion spent. Climate change deniers continue to argue that we've always had fires and weather is just weather and it's those people's fault for building there anyhow; the Trump administration continues to dismantle federal actions that address both the causes and the effects of climate change (can we at the very least respond to the effects, please?); but meanwhile the Thomas Fire north of Los Angeles has been burning for 23 days and still rages as I type this post. Fires have also erupted in Europe this year and, perhaps most alarmingly, wildfires have begun to occur farther north than ever before. In August of this year, "unusual and possibly unprecedented" multiple fires broke out in melted peat bogs in Greenland.

This print is dedicated to all those who have lost homes to the fires, including my friend Laury and her family, who lost their home to the Sonoma County fires in October. ♥

Here are some photos of the print in progress.

A small bright spot created by wiping away pigment on the first layer.
Shapes from first video still added.
Wiping is needed to keep the shapes from the first layers visible as the pigment builds up.
One more set of shapes in a darker shade, still wiping to keep visibility of the layers below. I like the "steamy" effect created by the wiping.
This is the fifth block. The photo was taken after printing, which is why it's stained with color. You can see that the block contains another set of fire shapes (a fourth video still) in the sky area plus trees that were in the video foreground. I worked the two areas separately for the most part and printed five or six different times before I was satisfied with the color balance.

7 comments:

Wendy Willis said...

This is fantastic. You have captured the fearsome magnificence of wildfire. I just saw for myself the sad remains of the fires in Napa. Heartbreaking. Your print is beautiful.

Unknown said...

This process is utterly magical (and kind of inscrutable) to me. And this print is just stunning. And it makes me weep. Thank you. 💚

Olga Norris said...

This is such a fantastic series, powerful too, and the grain of the wood goes so well. The beauty of this print is frighteningly beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
I wish you all the best in 2018 for you and yours, and for all of us.

Annie B said...

Thank you all. Olga, yes. Wishing the best for all of us in 2018.

Unknown said...

Hi Annie!

I just saw this...so beautiful, powerful...and a reflection to wake up to our actions and compassion for our earth, universe and each other.

Thank you for dedicating to those of us who have lost our homes. The light of Love burns like a wildfire...bringing healing and soothing. I just wrote a poem early this morning about this and then found your post and art. We are all ONE!

Much love,
Laury

Annie B said...

Much love back your way, Laury. Always…

Turtlemoonimpressions said...

Excellent print!