Inspired by expeditionary artists from Jacques le Moyne and John White to Seth Eastman and Richard and Edward Kern, James Lancel McElhinney has revived the practice of journal-painting during trips to Europe, Hawaii, Ecuador, Peru, California, the Rocky Mountains, the Hudson Valley, and River and the American Southwest.
PDF: Grand River Suite Prospectus_2021
McElhinney is the author of Sketchbook Traveler: Hudson Valley, the first in a series of field-guides to mindful travel; the visual exploration of natural, cultural and historic landscapes in ways that promote environmental awareness. During the spring and summer of 2019, McElhinney explored the Rio Grande from Dunn’s Bridge near Arroyo Hondo, to Kuaua Pueblo near Bernalillo, New Mexico. His Grand River Sketchbook and related works were exhibited in Reimagining New Mexico at Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe.
Works from his Schuylkill River Sketchbook project O.T.W. The Schuylkill River were exhibited at Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia from October 24, 2018. Works from McElhinney’s Hudson River Sketchbook were the focus of the exhibition James McElhinney: Discover the Hudson Anew at Hudson River Museum. September 13, 2019 to February 16, 2020
Following the examples of historic expeditionary artists, McElhinney’s works have been reinterpreted as suites of prints, which can be enjoyed in the form of an unbound book, or framed for display on the wall. O.T.W. The Schuylkill River, the limited edition, follows the success of Needlewatcher Editions 2017 debut publication Hudson Highlands: North River Suite Volume One. Either of these limited editions, and other works by James Lancel McElhinney can be found in the following collections:
Albany Institute of History and Art
Avery Fine Art and Architecture Library, Columbia University
Boscobel House and Gardens, Garrison, New York
City of Philadelphia. Water Department Archives.
University of Denver. Library Special Collections. Denver Colorado
Free Library of Philadelphia. Print and Picture Collection
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers New York
Huntington Library and Museum, San Marino, California
Independence Seaport Museum
Newberry Library. Chicago, Illinois
New York Public Library. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photography
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Archives and Special Collections
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA
Temple University. Samuel L. Paley Library Special Collections
West Point Museum, United States Military Academy
Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. New Haven CT,
And in private collections in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New Zealand. Grand River Sketchbook includes a color intaglio print, with archival-pigment chine-colle produced by Kathie Tackman. The copperplate etching is printed on Somerset etching-paper by Philadelphia master-printer Cindi Royce Ettinger, with hand embellishments by James McElhinney.
This is accompanied by a suite of ten (10) numbered, signed and dated archival digital prints on acid-free Moab Entrada Natural paper, with title-page and colophon/index page printed on archival Epson Cold Press paper, printed by Thomas Park. Orion Studios, Santa Fe..
All is loose-bound in a fine handmade cloth-covered three-fold hard-case portfolio with silver-stamped turquoise label, produced by Peter Geraty of Praxis Bindery in Easthampton, Massachusetts. edition is composed of 100% archival materials and limited to thirty (25) copies. Below is a selection of journal-paintings featured in the limited edition. Title-page below:
(Title Page)
Tunyo, or Back Mesa. Color intaglio print with archival pigment print chine-colle and hand embellishment on Somerset etching paper. Image size 4 x 10 inches. Sheet size 11 x14 inches. Image: 4 x 10 inches. Produced by Philadelphia master-printer Cindi Royce Ettinger.
Looking Across Rio Grande Gorge. East 90 degrees from 37.4766 x 105.7355. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
Rio Grande Gorge. North-Northwest 350 degrees from 36.3235 x 105.7037. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
Across Rio Grande Gorge. East-Northeast 77 degrees from 36.3567 x 105.7399. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
Confluence of Rio Grande and Rio Pueblo de Taos. 40 degrees NE from 36.3363 x 105.7344. Sheet: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
Rio Grande Below Pilar. Northeast 45 degrees from 36.2623 x 105. 8023.. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
Below Embudo. Ohkay Owingeh. North-Northeast 18 degrees from 36.1969 x 105.9724.. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
White Rock Canyon. Late Light. South 181 degrees from 35.8251 x 106.1822.. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
White Rock Canyon. Sunset. South 176 degrees from 35.8251 x 106.1822. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
Cochiti Reservoir. Ortiz Mountains Beyond. SSE 162 degrees from 35.6360 x 106.3225.. Sheet: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
Sandia Mountains from Kuaua. Southeast 140 degrees from 35.3272 x 106.5571.. Sheet size: 11 x 14 inches. Image: 3.5 x 10.6 inches
(Index-page and Colophon)
To reserve a copy, enquire: editions@needlewatcher.com, P.O. Box 233. Essex, New York. 12936-0233. 347-266-5652
or contact Maria Hajic, Director of Naturalism at Gerald Peters Gallery, 1005 Paseo de Peralta. Santa Fe. New Mexico. 87501. (505) 954-5769
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James Lancel McElhinney is a visual artist, author, blogger, independent scholar and fine-press publisher. He is the author of Sketchbook Traveler: Hudson Valley, released in 2020 by Schiffer Publishing. McElhinney received an MFA in painting from Yale, a BFA from the Tyler School of Art, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He is the recipient of fellowships and grants, including a 2017 Pollock Krasner Grant and a prior Visual Artist fellowship from National Endowment for the Arts. Recent exhibitions include James McElhinney: Discover the Hudson Anew at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York and On the Water: The Schuylkill River, at Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, and Reimagining New Mexico at Gerald Peter Gallery in Santa Fe. His work is represented by Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, and by William Havu Gallery in Denver.
DOWNLOAD PDF: Grand River Suite Prospectus 2021
UNIQUE COLLECTING OPPORTUNITY
The first iteration of Grand River Sketchbook was produced as a prototype in the summer of 2019 with a handmade binding by Mita Saldana of Against the Grain Bookbinding in Albuquerque, with contents printed by Thomas Park of Orion Studios Santa Fe. The concept was to emulate the spirit of an artist’s book. McElhinney had been intrigued by the ribbon-closure he had seen on a Sophia Calle limited edition in the back-room of Buchhandlung Walther König in Berlin. Ultimately a simpler design was adopted, with a binding produced by Peter Geraty of Praxis Bindery of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Click on the image below to learn more.
