Wade Womack was born and raised in Idaho, studied design and printmaking at Boise State University and abroad at the Falculte du Lettre in Avignon France, receiving his BA in 1984. He works primarily with the reduction wood block printing technique. He feels art is a tool of expression. “I want the art to be unified in expressing an idea, a story. The line work, color, and subject matter all exist to express the idea. I want to affect the viewer in every way possible… intellectually… emotionally… physically… subconsciously. ” Wade teaches woodblock printing and drawing at riverARTadventures studio in Bend. After 30 years as a printer and master framer, Wade is also applying his knowledge of craft to pieces he calls “Total Art”, which engage multiple senses: visual, auditory, experiential and time based, to bring a deeper appreciation of our environment and that which surrounds us.

Relief printing (wood block) is the oldest method of print making. In its essence, you carve away what you don’t want. Then you ink the remaining raised surfaces. Next you place paper over image and I hand rub with a hard wood spoon. Reduction Prints a multi-colored process that’s done on the same block. First carving away what will be white, printing your lightest color first, then carving away what you want the lightest color, ink and print the next color and repeat till you’re done. Once you make the second carving you can’t increase your edition size. Edition Size refers to overall number of prints in an edition. You’ll notice in the bottom left corner a number/number marking. The first number is the prints order in the edition and the second number is the overall quantity of prints in the edition.