My Landscape; | Illustrations by Walter Bachinski | 14 Poems by Canadian Poets
s.l. [Shanty Bay, Ontario]: Shanty Bay Press, [2022]. Square quarto, 29 x 29.2 cm. Cased in full blue cloth over boards. A vibrant landscape panel by Walter Bachinski, printed from a reduction linocut in blue, green, yellow, red, black, and white, is inset to the upper cover. Green paper label, printed with the title in black, to the spine. Cloth hinges and plain black endleaves and pastedowns. Top edges neatly trimmed, others untrimmed. Housed in a matching cloth covered slipcase. pp. [6] vii-xiii, [3] 3-57 [11]. A fine copy. The text was set in 16 pt Bembo and printed on 175 gsm BFK Rives paper. The text comprises poems on the theme of nature and landscape by 14 prominent Canadian poets: Wilfred Campbell, Bliss Carman, Pauline Johnson, Frederick G. Scott, A.J.M. Smith, Douglas LePan, Patrick Anderson, Douglas Lochhead, Daryl Hine, Margaret Atwood, Don McKay, Paulette Jiles, Barry Dempster, and Roo Borson. A total of 18 works by Walter Bachinski embellish the book. 7 are pochoirs, 6 are reduction linocuts in several colours each, and 5 are woodcuts printed in black. The frontispiece is a reduction linocut printed in blue, red, green, black, and cream. Another reduction linocut, in two shades of blue, red, black, and white, adorns the colophon page. Two pochoirs, on facing pages, form a diptych. The woodcuts were printed on interleaved cream Kuratoni 5, a heavy Japanese paper. The binding was done by Janis Butler. From an edition of 30 copies, of which only 25 were issued for sale. This copy is number 20. It is signed in pencil by Walter Bachinski and Janis Butler on the colophon page.
A copy of the prospectus is laid in. The prospectus is a single trimmed sheet, once-folded to produce a bifolium (20.2 x 20.3 cm closed). A reduction linocut by Bachinski, in two shades of blue, green, orange, and cream, is printed to the first recto. The second recto and second verso are printed with the details of the book and publication. The first verso is blank. An erratum slip is laid into the prospectus. Item #416
“The landscapes depicted in this latest publication of Shanty Bay Press were originally painted on sketching trips in an area of northern Ontario which starts in Killarney Provincial Park, moves westward along the La Cloche Mountains and the North Shore of Lake Huron to the Algoma Highlands. This visually stunning area was much favoured by the Group of Seven and subsequently by numerous landscape painters. It is home to First Nations people who have inhabited it for thousands of years. Birch Island, Sagamok, Whitefish River, Serpent River and the Mississagi River are the existing reserves today.
For decades Janis and I have explored this area, at first canoeing and camping and more recently, staying in lodges and exploring by motorboat. I was originally attracted to this part of Ontario because of the unique quality of its light, especially as it shines on the white quartzite of the La Cloche Mountains. It affects me in a visceral way, similar to my experience of the light in the South of France many years ago. This intense clarity illuminates the various elements of the landscape, bringing out colours and relationships between forms that are unusual and I feel compelled to try and capture this special place.
The landscapes presented in this book are the result of research I have done over many years and they reflect my enjoyment in connecting to the natural world. The brilliance of the light has influenced my sense of form and as a result the northern landscapes appear clearer than the more atmospheric images of pastoral southern Ontario.
By nature of its form, poetry is meant to be read slowly and savoured. The same is true of the illustrations in this book; both hopefully encourage a state of meditation. Many of the poems in MY LANDSCAPE were selected from Open Wide a Wilderness: Canadian Nature Poems, edited by Nancy Holmes and published by Wilfred Laurier University Press. I chose poems to which I felt a connection and that also reflect my understanding of the natural landscape. This is not an accurate portrayal of the social or economic realities of this area, but a more nostalgic rumination.
In pondering my attraction to landscape, I realize how much I enjoy being in nature, sitting for hours on a rock, trying to make sense of what is in front of me. With the light constantly changing and my focus always moving, it is exciting to respond emotionally to this and then pursue it with brush and colour. I often work in acrylic inks and as they flood across the page, sometimes in an uncontrolled manner, the tension rises even more.
In hindsight, there seems to be a progression in the importance of the landscape in my work. Early on, it found its way into the background of my figurative work. Then, in some of my still lives [sic], nature was included as a view out the window. More recently, I have been working on independent landscapes. I’m not sure what has guided me to this point in my life, but I am excited to be focussing on this unique northern landscape. Perhaps it has become my vision of paradise.” — Walter Bachinski, from the Preface.
Price: $3,000.00