The Last Days of the American River, Limited Edition Print by Douglas Fairchild

his image was used by Friends of the River and Sierra Club to help save the American River, thus the name. About half the edition went that way. The original painting is 24 x 36 inches, acrylic on linen. (Sold). The print is 18 x 27. That's the image size. The prints are $225 each, and $450 for the artist's proofs.

A story goes with it. One day when Lynne and I were up in the canyon we ran into some people who told us this particular spot was liable to be under a couple of hundred feet of water soon. It kind of brought the thing home, you know.

So, a little while later I was working on this painting of a place up on the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American River (wonderful name), and kept thinking about how the spot was going to be inundated. It bothered me. The name "The Last Days ..." came to me then. So I finished it up, took a transparency of it in to Friends of the River, and with the able assistance of Linda Cloud, who was the interim Executive Director, mocked up a program to use the picture to help save the river. Sierra Club, American Rivers (based in Washington, DC) and some other groups participated in the program. I priced the prints below the legal limit for donations. One of them was given to every member of Congress, every U. S. Senator, and every member of the California legislature, both houses ... even those who were in favor of the dam. The environmental group members bought a lot of them to raise money for the effort, and the profits went to their organizations. All in all it was a very successful campaign, so the print got a lot of recognition. Both Sierra Club and Friends of the River gave me an award for my contribution. The Grassroots Director at Friends of the River told me I had gotten more good press for them than they had gotten for themselves in the last ten years. People who went to Washington to lobby said the print opened doors for them like nothing ever had ... "Oh, you're the guys with the prints ... come on in" ... sort of thing.

I am pretty sure this was true, because I helped distribute them at the California Assembly and the response was just as described by the people who went to DC. I'd walk into a legislator's office and his staff would see them and want them too. I was so flattered I gave them to all the assistants. They were actually passing the word around and hunting me down through the halls of the Capitol. I went into one State Senator's office, and the fellow there said "I'm sorry, but we have a rule that we don't accept gifts." Then he looked at it and said, "Let me see that for a minute" ... took it into the other room, where I assume the Senator was sitting and a few seconds later came back out and said "Well, as I said, we don't take gifts ... but in your case we are going to make an exception!" You've got to know I had the time of my life.

Originally, I just took my hard costs out of sales of the prints ("The Canyon on the Middle Fork" and "American River, American Dipper" were included in the program later). All the rest of the money went to Friends of the River.

The "profits" are pretty hard to figure out at this point ... In fact, I am not sure I could make a profit if I took the whole price for every remaining print in this edition, because I gave away over half of it during the campaign. If you have ever published anything or been in business for yourself, you will understand the economics involved. Nevertheless I'll say half the price of the prints ... I'll send that to Friends of the River, or whatever other bona fide non-profit environmental organization you tell me to.

If you'd like to order one, me. If you want the whole American River group ... this one, Canyon on the Middle Fork, and American River, American Dipper, you get the Dipper free.

...Doug

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his image was used by Friends of the River and Sierra Club to help save the American River, thus the name. About half the edition went that way. The original painting is 24 x 36 inches, acrylic on linen. (Sold). The print is 18 x 27. That's the image size. The prints are $225 each, and $450 for the artist's proofs. A story goes with it. One day when Lynne and I were up in the canyon we ran into some people who told us this particular spot was liable to be under a couple of hundred feet of water soon. It kind of brought the thing home, you know. So, a little while later I was working on this painting of a place up on the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American River (wonderful name), and kept thinking about how the spot was going to be inundated. It bothered me. The name "The Last Days ..." came to me then. So I finished it up, took a transparency of it in to Friends of the River, and with the able assistance of Linda Cloud, who was the interim Executive Director, mocked up a program to use the picture to help save the river. Sierra Club, American Rivers (based in Washington, DC) and some other groups participated in the program. I priced the prints below the legal limit for donations. One of them was given to every member of Congress, every U. S. Senator, and every member of the California legislature, both houses ... even those who were in favor of the dam. The environmental group members bought a lot of them to raise money for the effort, and the profits went to their organizations. All in all it was a very successful campaign, so the print got a lot of recognition. Both Sierra Club and Friends of the River gave me an award for my contribution. The Grassroots Director at Friends of the River told me I had gotten more good press for them than they had gotten for themselves in the last ten years. People who went to Washington to lobby said the print opened doors for them like nothing ever had ... "Oh, you're the guys with the prints ... come on in" ... sort of thing. I am pretty sure this was true, because I helped distribute them at the California Assembly and the response was just as described by the people who went to DC. I'd walk into a legislator's office and his staff would see them and want them too. I was so flattered I gave them to all the assistants. They were actually passing the word around and hunting me down through the halls of the Capitol. I went into one State Senator's office, and the fellow there said "I'm sorry, but we have a rule that we don't accept gifts." Then he looked at it and said, "Let me see that for a minute" ... took it into the other room, where I assume the Senator was sitting and a few seconds later came back out and said "Well, as I said, we don't take gifts ... but in your case we are going to make an exception!" You've got to know I had the time of my life. Originally, I just took my hard costs out of sales of the prints ("The Canyon on the Middle Fork" and "American River, American Dipper" were included in the program later). All the rest of the money went to Friends of the River. The "profits" are pretty hard to figure out at this point ... In fact, I am not sure I could make a profit if I took the whole price for every remaining print in this edition, because I gave away over half of it during the campaign. If you have ever published anything or been in business for yourself, you will understand the economics involved. Nevertheless I'll say half the price of the prints ... I'll send that to Friends of the River, or whatever other bona fide non-profit environmental organization you tell me to. If you'd like to order one, me. If you want the whole American River group ... this one, Canyon on the Middle Fork, and American River, American Dipper, you get the Dipper free. ...Doug

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