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On January 13, 2007 in this picture, it is 7 degrees below zero. The river is solidly gorged looking upriver from the town bridge. This happens when the water freezes solid in the channel after it remains exceedingly cold for a few days. When the water is below freezing temperatures it stays liquid when it is moving but becomes more and more slushy as the extreme cold continues.

The slush eventually jams briefly going through the channels leading into the shallow lake below town. The second it does that, presto, the river there turns into a solid chunk of ice because it no longer is moving. More slush jams into that and repeats the process.

Over a few days the gorge can move several miles up the river. From this view you are looking downriver from the town bridge. The black blob in the middle is the top of the old bridge abutment.

The ice is not skating rink material, as you can see, rising nearly to the bottom of the bridge.

In this photo the gorge is actively occurring. The solid white is the frozen river and the steam is rising where it is moving into the jam.

The water that does not freeze solid is still trying to find a way downhill, even though the regular channel is solidly blocked. So the river starts runs around on the flats, cutting new channels, perhaps gorging some more.

This makes an awful mess of the town campground and boat launch. The road is gone at the entrance where the river running through it just cut it away.

This view is from Burnt Tree Fishing Access on January 13.

This is the same view on January 14 after the gorge arrived overnight.

In this photo about ten days later the river cuts a channel back through the ice after the weather warmed.

Another view of Burnt Tree shows the depth of the ice as the channel cuts through it.

The boat launch itself which drops sharply to the river is buried to the right of the picnic table. The pile of ice shows this launch is out of commission for months.

The normal river channel once again is in front of the row of willow trees. The foreground shows the snow has melted, so all the white beyond the willow trees is ice left from the river wandering around on the flats.

Burnt Tree Fishing Access on February 10 shows what a few days at 50 degrees will do.

The Eight Mile boat launch is now open because someone plowed it so a boat trailer can be used, if one backs carefully. The slot for the trailer is narrow but workable.

Fishing has resumed!

Bern Sundell: Artist/Fly Fisherman

This handsome coffee table book expresses the experience of fly fishing as shown in the art of Bern Sundell. A passionate fly fisherman, he brings a uniquely creative perspective to the subject.

The book is hand bound in deep brown calfskin with handmade paper fly leaves in a signed and numbered limited edition of 100 copies.

Flowers of the Dawn

Paintings and Poetry by Lexi Sundell

Luminous floral paintings glow throughout this book with selections of the artist’s poetry included as well. At 11″ x 14″ the pages are large enough to beautifully showcase the artwork.

The book is hand bound in a rich burgundy calfskin with handmade paper fly leaves in a signed and numbered limited edition of 100 copies. This book is no longer in print.

What Is a Giclee Print?

A commonly asked question in our gallery is “What is a… how do you say that word anyway?” Giclee is pronounced “zhee clay” which answers part of this question.

The word giclee (which should have an accent mark on the first “e” but it is becoming Americanized) is a French word that means to spray. It was appropriated in the USA to refer to spraying ink in the modern archival inkjet printers used for creating archival prints. The idea was that it added extra sophistication to the description of these prints.

The French are more than a little amused at this development as the word has other quite unsophisticated connotations in their usage. Nonetheless, the word stuck and is prevalent in the art world now. The giclee print itself is a great contribution to the art world, whatever the origins of its naming.

What Kinds of Giclee Prints Are There?

Different workflows are used to create giclee prints. The original painting, drawing, or other artwork has to be digitized, which can be done by photographing with a digital camera or by scanning a transparency from a film camera. These are the most popular giclee prints.

Other giclee prints can be created entirely digitally so that the artwork is created in the computer. Sometimes these creations are quick filtered photos that then are presented as digital art. Others are elaborate efforts requiring great skill in building up the desired appearance in complicated computer programs that are not often understood by the public.

For this reason, original digital artworks are not considered as valuable as artworks created with physical brushes, paints, etc. This is partly because so many quickie filtered photos are being offered that the public has not learned to discern them from more creatively original work made with obscure techniques.

How Are Giclee Prints Made?

After the artwork is digitized, it has to be printed using a special inkjet printer. These usually are large format printers with pigmented archival inks that cost thousands of dollars. The quick color copies at Kinko’s are not the same thing at all as those inks are not archival and will fairly rapidly fade.

The original giclee printer was the Iris printer, a great innovation in 1989. Now the Iris has been discontinued and many other brands of high quality giclee printers are available in the marketplace.

Printing an image created in acrylic paints, oil paints, or some other medium so that the colors are rendered accurately in pigmented inks is a major challenge. The ink itself interacts chemically with coatings on the paper chosen. While the print can be made close to the original look, it never will be 100% the same due to different materials used.

Creating as accurate a giclee as possible requires color corrections and proofing until the image is satisfactory to the artist. Media and ink selections play an important role in this process. Giclees can be printed on a diverse range of papers and also on special coated canvas materials.

How Do I Know a Giclee Print is High Quality?

First of all, it should have a certificate stating the kind of media and ink used. This provides an assurance it has been made with properly archival inks and coated canvas or paper matched to the ink set. Dye inks do not have the longevity of pigments inks, although the pigmented inks are more troublesome to use as they tend to clog the printers.

The giclee print should have an attractive appearance that is faithful to the original, which sometimes can be hard to determine if the original is not present. However, if you find the appearance pleasing, that is a good starting point.

The giclee print on paper should have a wide enough plain unprinted border to allow room for the artist signature with some extra space to mount under a mat for framing. In the case of limited edition numbered giclee prints, the name of the artwork and number also appears in the border area.

In contrast, canvas giclee prints are often created without a border and can be signed and numbered on either the front or the back. Either practice is considered acceptable.

Smaller editions in limited edition prints are considered to be the most valuable.

How Do I Care for a Giclee Print?

A giclee print should be treated with the same care as any original work of art on paper or canvas. This means keeping it out of direct sunlight and avoiding extremes of temperature or humidity. Archival matting and framing is recommended.

You can view RiverStone Gallery giclee prints in a range of subjects by various artists.

Ask RSG Info is a good way to get your general questions about art and jewelry answered. We have a lot of interesting articles planned, but if we get specific requests, we will post those more quickly for you.

To start we are using questions we hear all the time in our brick and mortar art gallery. An upcoming article is to be “What is a Giclee?” Another is “How Should I Clean My Silver Jewelry?”

So if you have a question you would like us to answer for you, head for our contact page and ask away! We will be delighted to hear from you.

RiverStone Gallery is happy to announce that the new Info section is now live. This section will operate as a blog, which means that articles will be added frequently to provide you with a variety of useful information.

We will offer articles about the selection and care of your artwork and jewelry. Over time a considerable amount of information about different kinds of artwork and how they are created will also be added.

You can look forward to artist interviews, some of them with live audio, and other surprises coming along regularly.

To add to the fun, you can add your comments or questions after each article by clicking the responses link  at the end of the article.