Page Fourteen THE PAINT BOX

Block ‘Prints

Biock Prints IN CoLor BY PHILLIPS OF CANADA SHOWN AT ARTS AND CRAFTS
GALLERY

ITHIN a fortnight three distinguished block-printers have appeared on the

Boston stage. The work of A. Rigden Read of Winchelsea, England, has

been shown at Goodspeed’s; Ernest Watson of Brooklyn, N. Y., was
awarded the Society Medal by The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston and New
York, and Thursday of this week, forty-five prints by W. J. Phillips of Winnipeg,
Canada, were placed in view in the gallery of The Society of Arts and Crafts, 9
Park street. Mr. Phillips is the leader of the small group of talented print makers
whose very isolation from the whirl of affairs seems to have called forth individu-
alistic and meritorious work. Through no particular effort of his own, his reputa-
tion has spread to all parts of the world where deserved recognition has been given
to the art of block-printing. He was trained as a painter in Birmingham and
London in England, and his first water-color exhibition was shown in 1910. After
three years as illustrator and teacher he moved to Canada, where he set about
“improving his design” by developing his technique as an etcher. A few years
later, equipped with a knowledge of design, the practical experience of an engraver
and the painter’s eye, he turned to wood blocks. Working in Canada, far removed
from the influence of the current English school of block printers with Morley
Fletcher as its leader, he developed a method quite analogous to that of the Japan-
ese.

He is a skilled draughtsman and a master in handling colors in which he has
purposely limited himself. His effects are distinctly satisfying technically and
aesthetically. He is at his best when handling large sweeps of contrasting areas,
made astonishingly alive by his gradations of colors, his use of broken lines and
by his intuitive selection of appealing points of interest. “Flying Island’’ is such a
print with the drab colorless water accentuated by the brilliant foliage in the fore-
ground; and “Evening,” where swaying branches are set against a quiet back-
ground, lit by glow of the setting sun.

Every process of his art is done by Mr. Phillips himself. He makes the
design, engraves the block and does the printing. The visible world is his inspira-
tion from which he fashions definite designs.

Mr. Phillip’s prints may be seen at The Society of Arts and Crafts until April
10.—From Boston Transcript.

we

Clover red and clover white
Down among the grasses,

Little yellow pansy things,
Where the wagon passes!

Little yellow clover, too,

And tiny flowers of baby blue;
How I love the sight of you,
Now I have some glasses!

D. HEensmMan.