Singing Wood is based upon interpretations of four woodcut prints: “Lake Louise” by Walter J. Phillips, “Singing Wood” by Gustave Baumann, “Willows and the Moon” by Arthur Wesley Dow and “Sierra Skyscrapers” by Frances Hammel Gearheart
Walter J. Phillips was an Canadian painter and printmaker born in England in 1884. He was artist in residence at the Banff School of arts in 1940 and later built and moved to a home in Banff. In 1960 he moved to Victoria where he retired and passed away 3 years later. He leaves a legacy as a fine painter and printmaker. (Source: https://www.lochgallery.com/exhibition/calgary-grand-opening-exhibition-walter-jphillips-june-15-26)
Gustave Baumann was a German born (1881) American artist and attended the Art Institute of Chicago as well as Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich and studied wood carving. He later moved to Santa Fe and became a member of the Taos Society of Artists and performed with marionettes! He passed away in Santa Fe in 1971. (Source: https://americanart.si.edu/artist/gustave-baumann-282)
Arthur Wesley Dow was born in 1857 in Massachusetts and studied in Paris and became an important commercial designer. in 1895 he met curator Ernest Fenollos, who introduced the artist to woodblock prints of Hiroshige and Hokusai. He continued to teach and in 1899 published Composition which had a series of exercises for students. He died in 1922 in New York. (Source https://americanart.si.edu/artist/arthur-wesley-dow-1325)
In 1869 Frances Hammell Gearhart was born in Sagetown and became a teacher of English History in Los Angeles Schools. She is considered self taught however spend summers studying with with Charles H. Woodbury and Henry R. Poore. In 1919 she joined the Print Makers Society of California and became an influential artist in the community. She participated in many shows and her works can be found in the United Stated as well as Toronto. She died in Pasadena, California in 1958. (Source: https://www.annexgalleries.com/artists/biography/781/Gearhart/Frances)
Composer Greg Danner was born in Missouri in 1958 and is currently Professor of Music at Tennessee Technological University. He has won many awards for both composition as well as teaching. As a performer he has held positions at numerous symphonies and currently plays horn with the Jack Daniels Silver Cornet Band, the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band, and is a freelance and studio musician in the Nashville area.