Southwest Foothills 1949

Dorothy Westaby McCray made this black and white stone lithograph of Southwest Foothills at an unknown date. I wonder what it must have been like, in the studio with Dorothy, as she drew the image onto the stone and then, with a bit of inky magic, pulled the print. I feel like I can see her hand at work in this landscape of rolling hills and winding roads, a little town nestled between. Those marks, they’re like a kind of shorthand, quickly describing forms in the moonlight. And the moon! It sits up there in the top of the composition like a beacon, radiating light and illuminating the texture of the land. The tonal quality of the image gives a real sense of depth; the way the artist has manipulated the stone to create this effect is so skillful and evocative. It makes me think about other printmakers who were working with similar themes, maybe some of the WPA artists, documenting American life and landscapes. The act of mark making—it’s all one big conversation, isn’t it?