Archway Gallery presents "Tic-Tac-Hobo," featuring prints and tapestries by Blaine Davis.

For his first exhibition as a member of Archway Gallery, printmaker and weaver Davis takes the viewer on a tour through the decades of his creative life. The prints, linocuts, copper plate etchings, and tapestries which make up this exhibition include some of Davis’ early works, which are the first expressions of the ideas and images he has carried into his recent work.

Davis has always been drawn to the symbols, used by Hobos -- Depression-era, nomadic workers -- to convey information, directions, help, and warnings to fellow “Knights of the Road.” The title work consists of nine Hobo symbols arranged in a grid which reminded Davis of a game of tic-tac-toe.

Davis’ copper plate etchings are the result of a process he calls “controlled accidents” – experiments with addition and subtraction. “There is usually no plan,” he explains. “I just see what happens using various techniques, adding layers, and sometimes chopping whole sections of the plate away to edit the piece. The plates can go into the acid numerous times while I keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.” Davis’ linocuts, on the other hand, are planned and he uses them to play with color and form. For example, he created the “Brazil” series after a trip to that country, using images and colors to which he was drawn.

Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on display until November 30.