New England Village Etchings

Images of a New England Village

Etchings by John Terrence Downs

By Michael Bannon

Every so often, an artist is compelled to create a record of experience, a visual manifestation of the time and place of their existence. Cast in the role of documantararian, Downs' keen eye and attention to detail is guided by a sensibility for the Universal essence which transcends physical subject matter, thus elevating the finished work to a level of aesthetic statement rarely achieved in any medium. Downs' lucid use of eloquent line escorts the eye through a tonal symphony of primal imagination. Whether rendering a panoramic landscape or an intimate corner of Americana, Downs' ability to communicate through the synthesis of line and texture are exemplified by his technical mastery of the medium. Lyrically pensive, these haunting images strike a fundamental harmonic resonance between the physical and the spiritual worlds.

"The Village Church"

In any small town, Church and State co-exist providing contrast and balance between the political and the spiritual. Rendered in a style reminiscent of Dutch landscape masters, this etching allegorically features contrasts between organic and geometric form. The buildings and road achieve a visual association through the use of hard edge and flat planes, while the organic forms and textures of the trees, mountains and sky illustrate the archetypal contrast between man and nature.

"Town Hall"

The hub of life in small town America, the Town Hall represents the axle around which all community activity revolves. Here, in a nostalgic, sepia toned ink, Downs depicts the edifice as a proud bastion of man's dominance over, and coexistence with the surrounding landscape. This unique perspective, with the road leading off, out of town and toward the distant mountains, leaves the viewer with a keen sense of anticipation and place.

"Cemetery"

Peacefully reminiscent of the roots of a small town's social essence, the cemetery provides perfect structural elements for an illustration of geometric form vs. organic form. The viewer, symbolically and visually separated from the somehow hauntingly familliar psychological space of the cemetery by a road, is spirited into the space through a concientiously controlled use of value and composition, coming to rest on the skyline of gravestones which buttress against the dark, mysterious world between the trees and earth, a space made all the more intriguing by virtue of its implications, as opposed to it's visual presence.

"The Swimming Hole"

A delicate balance between light and shadow, water and stone is accomplished through meticulous manipulation of the plate. This image pulls the eye in with a vortex of intuitively placed rhythms. Unified by the warm tone of graphite ink, intricate areas of detail play against swirling patterns of texture to form a tactile, intimate space.

"The Fountain"

Elegant and uplifting, this etching is not so much about the trees and fountain, as it is about the space around the trees and fountain. The foreground trees, coupled with exquisitely handled atmospheric perspective establishes an invitingly plausible space behind the fountain. The dark arc of the tree shadows thrust the eye up to the tip of the fountain, where, like the water, the viewer is atomized into a warm, bright and spiritually uplifting space.

"Stinson Lake"

Surrounded by forest, the viewer can hike to the top of one of the many mountains and repose while contemplating the gentle rolling expanse of space that spreads out to the horizon.

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For more information regarding these prints, or other prints, drawings and paintings by JTDowns, you may contact the artist directly at:

jtdowns@juno.com
or
tel. (603) 786-9958 (USA)