self taught

"At the age of 35 Fred Geary taught himself the art of xylography without guidance from outside of one or two books at first." (Dienes, 1946) Others did the same thing. Like Paul Landacre, Lionel Lindsay, as well as Thomas W. Nason, who were later commissioned by the Woodcut Society to do prints.
Nason wrote something about his learning curve. I would like to think that Fred Geary had a similiar experience. With that, here is what Thomas Nason of New England wrote: "I am always perplexed by the question, so often asked, as to how I happened to take up wood-engraving. It is difficult to give a satisfying answer. In the early twenties, I became aware of an increasing interest in wood-engravings, based mainly on seeing them used as book decorations
and magazine illustrations. These
prints, done for the most part in a bold and effective manner with rich blacks and sparkling whites, appealed to me very strongly. I seemed to see great possibilities in the medium for personal art expression. In 1922, I made my first wood-engraving, which was more of a laboratory experiment than anything else.

The decision was soon reached that I would never find it particularly thrilling to cut away the wood around the lines on the block simply to reproduce my drawing. But I was exceedingly interested in engraving extemporaneously directly on the block with a smooth-cutting engraver's tool which would go in any direction with equal freedom and which would cut a fine line or a broad one with much the same movement. I found this kind of engraving on wood a creative process within itself. As I became familiar with the use of the burin on boxwood and perfected my knowledge of printing from engraved blocks, the fascination of the process really got hold of me.


But my progress was slow. I produced a few blocks each year but continued to engrave them purely as a avocation; constantly experimenting, and striving to improve both my technique and composition...I do not know exactly how many have succeeded it but I do know that each one has presented an individual problem and that the final result is always a matter of conjecture. The first trial proof always brings a moment of keen anticipation and excitement --and often brings disappointment." Thomas W. Nason

(courtesy of the Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, 14 West 10th Street, Kansas City, MO, accessed Sunday, March 21, 2010)
(To the left are close up shots of a 5 by 8 inch House print by Fred Geary)
House by Fred Geary. Image size 4 by 5 3/4 inches. Fred Geary Print Collection, Carrollton Public Library, 1 North Folger Street, Carrollton, Missouri, United States

For more on Nason, click HERE

picture across the room

I walk into my local library, and over there in the corner I come face to face with a black and white image on cream colored paper. It is not a drawing. It is not a Photo Shop concoction. It is not painted. It is not a watercolor. What am I looking at? Four things come to mind. First, there is excavation involved. Think about scratches dug into plank of wood. Second, there are steps followed each time an image is made. And after all those steps are carried out the image can be seen. Third, there are particular steel tools used. Fourth and lastly, the artist must give it her approval. It must measure up. It must be dark enough, light enough. Without the approval of the artist, the print is worthless. It usually has a signature in pencil at the edge of the print.

An inked print is not a xerox, not a mechanical multiple, not a photocopy. It is labored over, fretted over, and deemed as a precious, glorious creation.

To gain some appreciation for Geary's craftsmanship, I have taken some close ups of his Bullfight scene courtesy of the Carrollton Public Library. and added some of my own comments.(left) See the bullfighter. The solid black background is black ink rolled onto a wood plank. Paper is placed on the inked wood.The back of the paper is rubbed down. The paper is pulled up off the plank and the image transfers to the paper. Now, the white area around the bullfighter has been dug out of the wood, extracted. If you look at the outline of the bullfighter's head and shoulder, you will see tiny white lines. Those are scratches into the wood. Look at his cape. Those cross hatched white lines are scratches into the wood. The dark areas are not scratched or left alone.

The next closeup (right) is an arena in shadow. The railing, the people seated, the columns of the balcony are tiny thin scratches on the plank of wood.


(left)
The thick horizontal line at the top is the edge of the print. There is a flag, two open arches, the hint of a wall, and horizontal lines up in the sky. The two open arches are dug out of the plank. The white area around the thin flagstaff and flag are dug out of the plank. The horizontal lines in the sky represent atmosphere, perhaps clouds.


The thick border (right) is the edge of the print. The white columns and railing are precisely plowed out from the plank with a steel tool. The seated figures are both silouette and have tiny scratches. See the atmosphere created above.

(left) The word "Caudrillas" had to be carved in reverse, because the printed image is all in reverse. So, if you have words in your design they need to be in reverse when you dig in the wood.




(right) There are various kinds of texture. Some shadows are solid black. Some have parallel lines. Other areas are solid white.

(left) The bull is a solid silouette shape in black. Tiny thin scratches create the impression of muscles. Cross hatching along the edge of the bull's shadow softens the edge of that shadow. Many details that don't just happen, the wood engraver puts them exactly as they are. To add to this discussion and give some insight to this medium I have asked Abigail Rorer to share her thoughts.

KM: If you would, please: Say something about the discipline required to do wood-engraving or woodcuts. As an artist in that medium, what problems are there to solve?

AR: I am a wood engraver. Wood engraving is a finer medium than the woodcut in that you get a lot more detail because you use the endgrain of a hard wood like boxwood or maple and you use engraving tools such as the burin and graver instead of curved gouging tools. It is a relief medium because the ink is rolled out on the surface then printed. Some of the issues that need to be decided as one engraves are working out textures and image edges with white lines or black lines, whether to stipple or cross-hatch and basically remember that everything taken away will print white. It is a very exacting and slow process and requires a steady hand and sharp tools. It is also very meditative when one is engraving.

KM: What problems do the handling of the tools or materials present?

AR: As mentioned before, your tools need to be sharp or you will slip all over the place. Plus the tools need to be adjusted to fit your hand. It takes a lot of practice to get to the point of a sure and steady hand. Everyone slips and there are various methods of repairing those errors depending on the extent of the mistake. Sometimes the wood will warp so you have to store the wood carefully. You also need to wear a magnifier because the lines are so fine. Printing the engraving also presents a lot of issues. It can be done by hand (rather difficult) or with a press. The main thing is not to fill the very fine lines with ink and to get a nice solid black.

KM: Unlike drawing, where you can immediately put down your impressions on paper, how do you go about creating a design and work it out on the wood surface?

AR: I work out the composition before hand, transfer the sketch to the block, then use pen & ink to complete the drawing on the block. I then tone the block with a sepia ink so that, when engraving, any lines that I cut will show up lighter than the block and I can see what I'm doing.

KM: Myself, generally, I paint rather quickly and prefer not to stretch the project out forever. It is my understanding that an engraver is in it for the long haul. I am guessing you don't jot scribbles down and willy-nilly scratch random marks, and then say "Good, I'm done with that." Am I right?

AR: Every engraver is different - there are some that engrave as you describe above - quickly jot down a rudimentary sketch then engrave in a free-form manner. I am totally the opposite - my engravings are extremely detailed and I am in it "for the long haul" as you say.

KM: How, then, is an engraving different from crayon scribbles on paper?

AR: The discipline, limitations of the medium, and the skills needed to get an image on paper; it's time-consuming and requires a lot of practice.

KM: In an other example, I tell my students at school that I am always doing "homework" on my paintings. They look at me funny, like grown ups don't do homework like they do, but, really, we as artists do, don't we? Not settling for a ho-hum presentation, but that which stretches and builds up our skills.

AR: I guess you could call it "homework" but it's almost like "life's work" in that we live and breathe our work 24 hours a day almost. If not doing it, then we're thinking about it or constantly observing, however unconsciously, the world about us and getting inspiration, and we're always perfecting our skills and technique.


KM: To make this kind of art, Geary followed certain steps, used steel tools, and spent lots of time digging in wood to make each print. Abigail, where can people go to see more of the wood engraving you do?

AR: My website is: www.theloneoakpress.com


Bullfight by Fred Geary. Image measures 8 by 11 1/2 inches. Printed on yellow-tinted paper. Courtesy of the Fred Geary Print Collection, Carrollton Public Library, 1 North Folger Street, Carrollton, Missouri

who?

Who can track the life of an artist? Who would want to? An artist's life is FLUID. This much can be said about Fred Geary. He worked in Kansas City. He was active in the art community of the Fine Art Institute, which always consisted of a pocket of people doing, learning, teaching art. The structure of that institution changed location through the years, but at its core, it was people lending a hand to build, encourage, share "what you know" with another, have moments of "creating art apart from the community," and then rejoining, sharing, and expounding on each other's work, critiquing as it were, laughing, hanging out, being a part, being affiliated with relationships. (Below photo, west side of Kansas City, near Alta Vista, where The Kansas City Society of Artists once met--future post is promised)

Records are scarce. WHO was in WHAT group? WHERE did they gather? All very fluid. The artist's life. Here, Geary's name is given credit for the Institute Brochure, when the school was still at the Phil R. Toll home, on the southwest corner of Warwick and Armour Boulevards.

"Interest in the Art Institute was increasing, as was enrollment. In 1922, a brochure listed classes in design, illustration, interior decorating, costume design, fashion, wood carving, drawing, lettering, commercial art, sculpture and industrial art. There were also special classes in jewelry, home crafts such as batik, gesso, lamp shades, ceramics, weaving, basketry. The catalogue was profusely illustrated with examples of student art including work by Ruth Alexander, Illah Marion Kibbey, Lora Wilkins, Fred Geary, Doris Prat, Gene Thornton, Leroy D. MacMoris, L.F. Wilford, Delle Miller. Costs were day classes, per week, $3.50; evening classes, per week, $1.50; children's classes, Saturdays, 50 cents; holiday classes Sunday mornings, 60 cents." (A History of Community Achievement 1885-1964 by Mazee Bush Owens and Frances S. Bush, page 9, accessed from Jannes Library, Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010).

Geary took part in the Midwestern Artist Exhibitions in 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1939, 1941, and 1942 (Midwestern Artists' Exhibition of 1928 by Cynthia Mines, Kansas City Art Institute, 1920-1942, accessed from Kansas City Public Library, accessed Saturday, February, 20th, 2010).

He was the treasurer of the Kansas City Society of Artists in 1933.(Fred Geary, Missouri Wood Engraver by E.H. Deines, 1946, unpublished, page three, courtesy of Ms. Jane Metz and the Carrollton Public Library, Carrollton, MO, accessed January 10, 2010)

All the while he was rooted in daily graphic art assignments through the Fred Harvey Company at the UNION STATION where he has his studio. (Below photo, printed label of his studio location, attached to backside of framed print in Carrollton Public Library,
Fred Geary collection)


It's like the "Missouri Art Icon," Thomas Hart Benton. It is a given that Benton talked with students in his painting class while at the Kansas City Art Institute. He listened to the ideas of fellow faculty members. He invited persons of like-minded interest over to his house for social interaction. He was on the same committee as Geary when Graphic Art entries were being selected for the 1939 World's Fair held in New York City. Still, it is difficult to peer into "the-unseen-world-of-artists-forming-relationships" and then "map out" how they grew in their own work because of their interactions with those they admire. Geary had this, I am sure. This blog will explore the facets it can find. The rest of it will be left to another to find, to savor, and publish his or her findings.

K.M.