A show of prints and artist’s books by Rebecca Goodale opens on Friday, Aug. 17 at the Green Lion Gallery in Bath with a reception from 4-7 p.m. as part of the Bath Art Walk. The show runs through Sept. 16.

Rebecca Goodale is a noted book artist, whose books are sought-after treasures that can be found in public collections throughout the United States including locally at Bowdoin College Library, the University of New England, the Maine Women Writers Collection, and the Portland Museum of Art.  She is also a versatile and accomplished artist in many other media, beginning with a background in textile design and moving on to explore several kinds of printmaking.  Her show at the Green Lion highlights her versatility, exhibiting some of her breathtaking artist books and also featuring her wood and linoleum cuts, intaglio prints, serigraphs, and sculptural collages.

Her work often focuses on some intriguing aspect of the natural world around us, including for instance her Threatened and Endangered Project that is documenting disappearing plants and animals in Maine.  The books and their beautiful and vivid images serve as both elegy and warning.   She recently collaborated on a beautiful book with Ghanian artist Atta Kwami that has been purchased  by the Smithsonian's African Museum.  The prints in her Green Lion show are sometimes playful, sometimes layered and complex, sometimes deceptively simple, and always fascinating.

Goodale has been teaching at the University of Southern Maine Art Department since 1981.  She is also the Faculty Director of the USM Summer Book Arts program, and the Program Coordinator of the USM Center for Book Arts.

The gallery is located at 104 Front St., downtown Bath.  More information at www.greenlionart.com.