Path to Transformation
Frantisek Strouhal, Chantal Robert and Corinna Calvert-Smith
Mirage Studio Publishing, 2024
Slocan Valley artist Frantisek Strouhal’s second book brings together 44 images of his artwork, alongside poetry and prose written by Strouhal and his partner, Chantal Robert. The book also features the work of Valley writer and poet Corrina Calvert-Smith.
Robert writes: “Inspirations explores the transitional realm between our present reality and the ethereal realm beyond; the tangible world we experience through our senses and the boundless world of imagination; the physicality of our bodies and the spirituality of our souls.” One of the intentions of the images and mediative writings in the book is to encourage the viewer/reader to go deeper, and perhaps discover a source of transformative engagement.
The oil-printing process Strouhal uses to create his artwork combines photography, digital collage, contact printing and lithography inks on watercolour paper. The paper is soaked in a gelatin bath and dried, and a digital negative is contact printed under UV light on the sensitized paper. The paper then becomes a matrix for applying lithography inks, building layer upon layer to create the desired image.
Calvert-Smith writes in the introduction to the book: “There is a consistently mysterious aesthetic within Frantisek’s art. His artistic journey radiates through each painting. To describe the feeling of observing Frantisek’s art is like trying to describe the feeling of seeing the aurora borealis. It feels profound.”
And Valley author Tom Wayman writes: “Strouhal’s art radiates a calm, humble and generous spirit, urging viewers to increase their awareness of their feelings toward self, as well as toward the human, natural and spiritual environments amid which we live.”
