Golden Seas
Danny Pierce.
Golden Seas. Kent, Wash.: Red Door Studio, 1986. 29 x 38 cm.
Call Number: (BKRT)(FOP) NE 1325 .P5x G6 1986
COLOPHON: This folio of woodcuts was created, cut, and printed by Danny Pierce from the original blocks. The type was hand set in Caslon Oldstyle and printed on a Gordon Platen Press. The title was cut in wood. The paper is Arches Cover Buff 250 grs. The endsheets were handmade by the Sea Pen Press and Paper Mill, Seattle, Washington from wheat chaff gleaned on the Don Thomas ranch. The book box was designed and constructed by the artist-author using raw Belgian Linen and Oasis morocco leather. Copy number 7.
"The title came to me as I watched the wheat ripple and sway in the wind. Julia and I went with friends, former wheat ranchers in eastern Washington, to watch the way the harvest was done before the use of tractors. In this case the harvester was pulled by 27 mules. The activity took place on a weekend and people came from miles around to meet with old friends and enjoy a nostalgic moment of history. When the woodcuts were finished and the box cover was designed Julia and I returned and gathered 5 sacks of wheat chaff left by the thrashing machine in the fields. We took the chaff to a paper mill in Seattle and they made the end sheets with it.
"An interesting thing happened when the local newspaper gave a write up on the completion of the book. ‘The limited book Golden Seas is about the old days of harvesting wheat with a 27 mile hitch.' Wow! 27 miles will stretch from Tacoma to Seattle, Washington."