What: Artist’s Reception for W.R. “Woody” Thomson
When: Friday (Oct 1), 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Red Bluff Art Gallery, 601 Walnut Street
W.R. “Woody” Thomson opens an art exhibit with a sense of humor, as well as a carefully defined style, with his “Woodcuts: Myth & Mystical Humor,” at the Red Bluff Art Gallery. “Woody” got his nickname during a 25-year career teaching fine arts and crafts in Santa Barbara County. He now lives in Shasta Lake City, where he currently works at his art studio.
His new collection of woodcut designs is composed of images that leave the viewer either smiling or wondering about the story behind the picture. People are seen riding on a bird, a snail, a rabbit, and a fish. In “Jonah and the Whale,” Jonah can be seen sitting inside the whale.
In one of the larger prints, there is a creature that appears to be half bird and half man, wearing a tuxedo. Another creature, which might be half man and half bull, is seen offering a fish to the first character.
Woodcut art (or xylography) is one of the oldest methods of making prints from a relief surface, dating back to the 5th Century. The technique involves cutting into a piece of wood. The surfaces that will eventually form the image are left level, while the rest of the wood is removed by “gouging” with a sharp tool. Thomson uses pine to make his prints.
The exhibition features giclee prints made from the original woodcuts, helping to bring the price down to an accessible level for those who might want to decorate their home or office with this interesting work.
Thomson was born in New Haven, Connecticut. At the age of 5 his family moved to California. He has been an artist/craftsman since early childhood. Much of his artistry is self-taught, although he has studied under a number of artists and craftsmen, namely: Bill Richardson, Phil Cornellius, Bill Bockus, Nat Fast and George Monreau, who influenced him when he was developing his style and techniques.
Thomson’s exhibit runs at the same time as Paul “Palul” Rideout’s “Forty Years in Clay” retrospective exhibition, from October 1 to 29th.
An Artists’ Reception and Opening will be held at the Red Bluff Art Gallery, 601 Walnut Street, on Friday, October 1, from 5 to 8 PM. All are welcome and dress is casual.
-from Red Bluff Art Gallery press release
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