Is it obvious yet that I’m inspired by a diverse medley of artists?  I haven’t been doing this Sunday Artists thing for very long, but I already seem to have a nice variety on my hands.

I stumbled upon an Elizabeth Blackadder book in the Glasgow School of Art library when I was studying there for a semester two springs ago. As a printmaker, it’s kind of laughable how few traditional printmaking artists I’m gravitated towards.  I’ve tried a large number of traditional printmaking processes, and I’m pretty sure it would be impossible for me to ignore and/or lack respect for the printmaking greats.  Also in Glasgow, I was given the opportunity to see some Goya etchings in person; it’s kind of impossible for me to explain how incredible that was.  But even still, Rembrandt and Durer don’t make me want to make etchings.  But Elizabeth Blackadder does.

If it’s not already obvious, I adore cats.  I enjoy a variety of Elizabeth’s work (her flower studies are lovely), but I am absolutely besotted with her drawings of cats.  Cats are lively creatures with larger-than-life personalities, and I think she manages to capture their spirit exactly. 

And even beyond the subject matter, it’s her mark-making that truly hooks me.  There’s just something very vibrant and fresh and sincere apparent in both her drawings and her etchings.  I’ve done some intaglio, but I can’t say I was really hooked.  You can do some gorgeous things with etching, and I love the idea of aquatinting the hell out of something, but it never quite clicked with my own work.  I could make beautiful lines, but I always felt like the end product was too removed from that first drawing on the fresh soft ground.  In retrospect, I think I was too caught up in the classical etchings that are all about composition, rework, and revisions.  Elizabeth Blackadder’s etchings make me want to go back to etching and draw and draw and draw, embracing the spirit of that initial drawing.

P.S. You can see a nice selection of her work here, and/or google.  Or go to the Tate Gallery or the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.