Wondering Through the Redwoods - from the "Voices and Visions" Fort Mason Printmakers portfolio

Ray Neher

From the portfolio of 22 etchings by 22 artists, titled "Voice and Visions: A Book of Poems and Etchings." Printed by the Fort Mason Printmakers in San Francisco under the direction of Eleanor Rappe, each work was inspired by a poem of the artist's choice, corresponding to their assigned category: Part I, Of Love and Loss; Part II, Upon the Earth; Part III, Under the Heavens; Part IV, Journeys of the Mind; and Part V, Metamorphoses.

This print is from the fourth category: Journeys of the Mind. Its corresponding poem was "California Magic" by Stephen Matlaga:

California magic came / when a voice with the roll / of Gertrude Stein rhetoric / played language to fifty redwood forest watchers / and toured us toward believing / lady redwoods lift, at night, / their skirts of bark and / root- / toe- / tipsy / past their red-faced males, / For fun.