The Outer Shore 1954

This lithograph, The Outer Shore, by Stow Wengenroth is made with stone and crayon, and what I love about the process of lithography is that it’s all about the physical push and pull, the resistance of materials against each other, like life itself. Look at the way Wengenroth renders the rocks, how each little stroke of the crayon builds up this incredible sense of texture. You can almost feel the rough, weathered surface beneath your fingers. And then there are the birds, so delicate and light, perched on the rocks or soaring through the sky. The contrast between the solid, grounded rocks and the ephemeral, fleeting birds creates a beautiful tension in the image. Notice the bird with its wings outstretched in full flight, just above the horizon line, which seems to echo the way the rocky cliff face seems to also extend upwards. Wengenroth reminds me a little of Charles Burchfield, an artist also interested in capturing the sublime in nature, even though their styles are quite different. Ultimately, it's not just about what the artist saw, but about how they saw it, and how that vision can expand our own.