Storm's Fury

Wilder Mayo Bentley

The full title of this handbound artbook reads Storm's Fury Past... An Obscure Prophesy Delivered in the Form of Twelve Views of Mt. St. Helena, Other California Landscapes, Human Artifacts Depicted, & Two Poems, One Shorter and One Lengthy.

Wilder Bentley's long and varied career began in book binding under the tuelage of his father at age 10, and eventually led him to experiment with an extensive range of mediums: oil painting, watercolor, intaglio printmaking, woodcut printmaking, calligraphy, woodworking, and more. Later in life, as his hands became less cooperative, he explored the possibilities in digital printing and worked closely with archival printers to recreate his works for publishing in book form.

In Storm's Fury he combines archivally scanned and printed ink and watercolor wash drawings with poetry to create a kind of ode to Northern California. Included are images of Tomales Bay, Sonoma County, Mt. St. Helena and Napa Valley, accompanied by his writings. (Ever the non-conformist, he sneaks in a single, uninked image of a sunrise over the Grand Canyon, as well.) He then bound the book between two lacquered wooden boards with a mahogany leather spine.