SCHANILEC, Gaylord, b.1955. ~ Sumac: Long-grain.
Original wood print, one of an edition of 10, signed, dated and titled by the artist in pencil. Image size 37 x 19 cms (15 x 8 ins). Paper size 51.5 x 29.5 cms. Printed on Zerkall mould-made paper.
One of the remarkable wood prints from Gaylord Schanilec’s great book ‘Sylvae’, winner of the 2007 Gregynog Fine Press Prize. The book documents the journey of Ben Verhoeven and Gaylord Schanilec into the woods surrounding Midnight Paper Sales in western Wisconsin to create a work not only about these trees, but of these trees. In all 24 species have been catalogued through image, historical anecdotes, and notes taken during the cutting, milling, engraving and printing.
The book’s 53 images consist primarily of wood prints of long grain and end grain specimens which have been taken from Schanilec’s property. In each case the image is manipulated through either colour, impression, engraving, or some combination of the above to emphasise certain characteristic of a species. The text varies as well from tree to tree, focusing on what role each played in the local history and in this project.