Artwork copyright Lockwood Dennis. Photo courtesy of the artist.

R.R. Pier, 1986

Lockwood Dennis
American (born 1937, died 2012)

Location: Ridgeview Elementary, Yakima

About the Artwork

Artist Lockwood Dennis created the woodblock print R.R. Pier after sketching the site located in Port Townsend, on the Olympic Peninsula in Northwestern Washington. Dennis noted that the artwork depicts "the shortline railroad in Port Townsend loading boxcars onto a railroad barge for the Port Townsend Paper Company." Dennis typically made sketches at the site. In his studio, he transferred the drawings onto woodblocks, carving one for each color that you see in the final print. Each woodblock was inked and printed with a hand press, in a layered process. This print includes three colors.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Yakima School District.

About the Artist

Northwest artist Lockwood Dennis (1937-2012) was known for his body of colorful woodcut prints. His art often depicted industrial landmarks and landscapes that have a tension between man-made and natural elements. Over his forty-five-year career, Dennis drew inspiration from varied traditions such as German Expressionist prints, vintage cast-metal toys, Japanese woodblock prints, comic art, and WPA era design from the late 1930s.