March 31, 2014

Brackenwood Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Blumhagen & Smith, an exquisite show of monoprints and photography. Please join us for an Artists’ Reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 5. Francy Blumhagen, a print maker and mixed media artist has teamed up with Skip Smith, a photographer, to offer a show of quiet yet profound beauty.

Smith has had a love affair with Eastern Washington for many years, first as a professor of Entomology at Central Washington University and second as an award-winning photographer. Smith, who loves to wander the backroads, has captured the mystique of Wheat Country. Skip’s work includes slowly decaying skyscraper grain silos that dominate the landscape, expanses of rugged wheat fields and small towns that are quietly evolving into ghost towns. He makes it personal as he takes you to the heart of Wheat Country.

“I am drawn to the open spaces—vast horizons and skies,” Smith said. “There is beauty in the vastness and this beauty is what keeps beckoning me to return, to learn more about the land and to capture it with a photographer’s eye.”

While Skip’s work is focused on the macro world of wide-open farmlands, Francy Blumhagen’s monoprints capture the micro level of plant life that perhaps grows on that land. Francy uses actual plants like bronze fennel, horsetails and pea vines to create stunning and elegant botanical Monoprints. Inking the plate, assembling plants onto the plate, and printing with very textured paper create an initial image. Finally Blumhagen uses the first image to make a “ghost” print: a multi-step process that creates a striking one-of-a-kind print. The way the paper, plant and plate pick up the ink creates vivid contrasts between dark and light; the ink, absorbing differently, often makes a silhouette of some of the leaves. This distinctive process evolves into Francy Blumhagen’s unique and elegant Monoprints.

The exhibit continues through April 28. For further information, visit http://brackenwoodgallery.com.