Charles Hobson is a Bay Area treasure, both for his own finely made exquisite artworks in the book medium and for his endless support of all artists in the book world. His books are characterized by elegant choices in materials and delicately wrought imagery as well as a profound respect for his subject matter.
Charles Hobson has operated Pacific Editions, a publisher of limited edition artist books since 1986. He has taught about artists's books at the San Francisco Art Institute since 1990. In 2007, Stanford University acquired the design archive of his work and mounted coordinated exhibitions at the Green Library and the Cantor Art Museum.
Hobson’s work explores themes of poetry, classical mythology, astronomy, surrealism, shipwrecks, and love affairs of famous historical figures, among other topics, through the medium of the artist’s book.
Artists' books are a natural meeting place for image and word. Because of this, I work with books, particularly accordion and other sculptural forms of books, which allow both an intimate viewing experience and a group viewing experience to take place. I've taught about artists's books at the San Francisco Art Institute since 1990. In 2007, Stanford University acquired the design archive of my work and mounted coordinated exhibitions at the Green Library and the Cantor Art Museum. Since 1986 I have operated Pacific Editions, a publisher of limited edition artist books.
I'm an artist who uses pastel, monotype and other printmaking variations to construct images for books and works on paper. Usually working in series, I often follow a historical theme and employ the monotype as an underpainting for further work with pastel, acrylic and printed texts. A monotype begins as a painting on a thin flat surface such as copper or plexiglass. A piece of paper is placed over the image and the plate and paper are run through a press, and the resulting impression on the paper is a monotype. A second impression from the same plate produces a much fainter image called a "ghost." Working with monotypes permits me to rework an image several times in a fresh way and look for the play of chance and accident. I can print a monotype as a layer over another pattern or picture as well as work over it with pastel or acrylic. In this process the monotype provides a luminosity to the final image in a method pioneered by Edgar Degas.