Serigraph. 9 colours. w32cm h32cm. Signed, 1976, Vancouver, B.C.

The arbutus grows on the west coast of North America, from northern California to British Columbia. It is capable of growing in quite poor soil, so that it can often be seen on the rocky shores of islands, clinging to a minor shelf of land. Its distinctive reddish bark peels away, creating a blotchy effect. Carl was very fond of its gnarly form and the distinct colouring of its woody parts.

The small number of prints in this series is partly due to their complexity. A print of nine colours like this one requires nine screens to be prepared, and each print to be aligned as precisely as possible so that the colours will produce the right effect as they layer up. A small error in registration will show a light stripe on one side of a mass, a dark stripe on the other. Although Carl might start with forty or fifty prints of the first screen, he would reject any flawed prints in each run, so that it is no wonder that one as complex as this ends in only seventeen.

The fine detail of the feathery colouring (reminiscent of Seurat) was produced by painstaking application of glue directly to the screen. A print series like this would take weeks to complete.

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Reproduced here number 2 out of a series of 17 (2-17), Property of artist's family.

Property of artist's family: 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and A.P. I, II

Owners of other prints from this series are encouraged to contact us.