SOME COPPER ETCHINGS BY FRANKLIN NORWOOD

     I want to introduce you to a really good printmaker in Colorado. Almost fifty years ago – 1972 to be exact, I met Franklin Norwood at a community fair in Denver – the Capitol Hill People's Fair. Norwood taught art classes and produced copper plate etchings for three years in Denver, before moving to Colorado's Western Slope, where he continues to show his etchings and offer occasional demonstrations in his shop, the Main Street Gallery.

     I like small prints, so in two successive People's Fairs, I bought small prints from Norwood, and they have been displayed in my living room since. If you have been visitor to my home, you have seen them.

Buffalo

Anthem

     Alas, Norwood disappeared. He wasn't at the next People's Fair. But you will recall the biblical phrase "I have found my shekel which was lost?" In 1973, Norwood moved his studio to Colorado’s Western Slope and continued to produce etchings, opening his Carbondale gallery in 1982.

     Yesterday, Eileen and I were in Carbondale where she was conducting two gerontology workshops in the area and really didn’t want me around to disturb her. So I went searching for Norwood. I found his shop, the Main Street Gallery but unfortunately, Norwood, now a grandfather and semi-retired, was not in. His gallery manager was very gracious and allowed me to browse and to photograph a couple of his works. Norwood’s art now seems to be more whimsical and he embellishes most of them with hand-coloring. They still give pleasure. And they now command about fifteen times the price that they cost in 1972. Good on him for his success.

Walrus

Balance

     After darn near half a century, I almost got to say hello again.  I’m really sorry I missed him, but if you’re ever visiting in Carbondale, please look in on Franklin Norwood at the Main Street Gallery and enjoy his work.

Roger Doherty

October 23, 2018