PORT TOWNSEND — One Hundred Days of Solitude, an exhibit of photopolymer letterpress prints of Port Townsend by Mary O’Shaughnessy, is on display at the Port Townsend School of the Arts Grover Gallery.
The show at the gallery at 236 Taylor St., went up on Thursday. The November exhibit, “One of a Kind” is also held over.
“One Hundred Days of Solitude” was inspired by Hiroshige’s 100 views of Edo, and the quietude imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers said, adding that it “reflects the silence and the beauty of early morning Port Townsend.
Gallery hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. The exhibit also can be viewed online at PtArts.org.
“In mid-March of this year, time began to circle in uncertainty,” O’Shaughnessy said. “What does one do? My answer was to take early morning walks, explore the essence of where we live.
“Along with our dog, Max, I sought out moments of exquisite beauty, recording them with camera and phone. Most of the time I was the only person out, it was a feeling of solitude, not loneliness; it fed my soul.”
Back in the studio, O’Shaughnessy brought old and new worlds together — exposing light-sensitive photopolymer plates to the photographic negatives, and then inking and printing the images on her 100-year-old Vandercook press on Rives BFK printmaking paper.
“I like the Yin and Yang of the ephemeral quality of the photographed moment, and the measured manipulation of converting it — the hand and the head having equality,” the artist said.
With degrees in set design, interior design and architecture, O’Shaughnessy and her husband ran a commercial gallery in Chicago for over a decade, before she went full time into her art career.
Working mostly three-dimensionally. She explores many different mediums, letting the expression inform what medium she uses.
She moved to Port Townsend in 2014.
“The long view over the water, the mountains ever changing images and the textures of the forests all have made me move away from the industrial of city life and embrace the natural,” she said.
And, in honor of the gift giving season, November’s show and sale, “One of a Kind” is held over. This small works collection features 2D and 3D art including wearable fashion, fiber arts, ceramics, jewelry, paintings, prints, cards and more from over 30 artists.
“Solitary Shadows” is part of Mary O’Shaughnessy’s show, One Hundred Days of Solitude, at the Grover Gallery.
