From Photographs Do Not Bend:

"In 2009, PDNB Gallery featured the very powerful suite of woodcut prints from Don Schol’s suite, Vietnam Remembrances. In 2014, Don Schol (b. 1941, Iowa) had another solo show at PDNB of his linoleum cuts, Arrangements. Although Schol is well-known for his sculpture, especially his honest but humorous self-portraits, his printmaking and drawing have been a focus in his late career.

Schol’s series of drawings, Jazz Mini, were created in his mom’s last years, between 2015-2017. During his visits with his mom, she would watch tv and he would draw while listening to jazz music with earbuds. These detailed drawings are small, 3.5 inch square compositions with intricate geometric forms dancing around, fitting together almost like gears in a machine. The energy created finds no end in sight except the end of the paper.

His woodcut prints are from a humorous graphic suite created in 2009, Moonstruck. This is a story of two pencils meeting each other and what happens to them after they fall in love. It is an homage to the pencil, his number 314, Eagle “Chemi*Sealed” Draughting pencil. One semester when teaching a drawing class, he made a beautiful wooden box for his pencil. This jewel in the box illustrated the importance of taking care of a fine instrument to make art, as a violin is cared for to make music. This illustration of the moonstruck pencils is based on the graphic novel."