(The last vacation post. )
Gwen Frostic's is a place that I've gone my entire life, my mom has gone her entire life, and her mother most of her's. Until the early 2000s when Gwen Frostic died, it was this place of beautiful natural artwork that emphasized exactly that, the beauty in nature.
Her block prints were famous for their simplicity, and her poems for that same minimalism and wonder. Amazingly, these beautiful and simple prints were done as she suffered from a disease similar to cerebral palsy. Each print is done on the same Heidelberg presses (which are often running during days the shop is open) that have been used for years, which means the prints don't change and are exactly as the original carved blocks .
(sorry for these weird pictures of the cards, I don't know why I didn't take them out of the case). One thing I've always loved is the way the building is built into the surrounding land, which is a nature preserve, and you can easily miss it from the road if you don't know where it is.
The inside of the building is filled with natural elements - fountains that are similar to streams, low lighting, driftwood and old beams as shelves, and the cement floor has imprints of leaves and animal tracks.
When I was little there were always multiple cats and dogs lounging around, as well as wild animals from the preserve outside. This time the boys saw a chipmunk run through over the top of the fountain, and a bullfrog sat in that same fountain. Gwen was almost always in the shop and it was always enjoyable to chat with her or see her working on a new piece of artwork.
Since her death there have been, disappointingly, some changes that are more for selling points than for promoting the conservation efforts that she emphasized. But the essence is still there and I am always happy to come away with lovely stationary and prints that helped create my love of natural artwork.
