Reflection III

Reflection III

Cover | Donald and Era Farnsworth

Reflection III, 2004 (jacquard tapestry, 75 inches by 54 inches). Donald and Era Farnsworth are collaborators in art and life, directing Magnolia Editions, a fine art publisher and studio for experimental art projects in Oakland, and traveling the globe to find imagery for their mixed-media work on paper and in tapestry. The Farnsworths employ a wide range of traditional printmaking and innovative digital methods developed at Magnolia Editions, where breakthroughs in techniques such as photogravure and weaving have led to editions by artists including Squeak Carnwath, Chuck Close, Guy Diehl, Hung Liu, Enrique Chagoya, Kiki Smith, Masami Teraoka, and William T. Wiley. Reflection III, one of an ongoing series of tree portraits by the Farnsworths, is a mixed-media etching with watercolor translated into an electronic weave file and woven on a 7-foot jacquard loom using a proprietary Magnolia Editions’ technique. Instead of ink on fabric, the image is made up entirely of colored thread combinations, woven together so that the eye perceives them as unique colors. See more artwork by the Farnsworths and learn more about Magnolia Editions at magnoliaeditions.com.


NEXT MONTH: Charlie Chaplin-mania hits the Bay Area as the Little Tramp celebrates a centennial, an active woman describes in detail a heart problem that almost took her life, and The Monthly’s man Paul Kilduff gets a plum assignment—exploring new beerhalls and beergardens for a New Year attitude adjustment.


Faces of the East Bay