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I had been making pencil and pen and ink drawings using tiny marks for many years when I discovered scratchboard and fell in love with the medium. It was perfect for the kind of fine, detailed, markings I was making.

Scratchboard is a subtractive medium that uses a variety of sharp tools to remove a black layer of ink, exposing a white layer beneath. I work in black and white and sometimes add color. On occasion, I employ the ancient art of gold leaf, which adheres perfectly to the scratchboard surface.

I have created several series, mostly on scratchboard, but I also work with ink, monoprints, and acrylics on a variety of materials—including paper, canvas, and glass. Early on, my work was abstract, then changed to be more realistic and impressionistic. I find myself drawn to the depiction of nature—landscapes, flowers, oceans, and also animals. No matter the subject, it is the mark-making itself that allows me to enter a private inner world, exposing the pain and beauty of daily life. I am led by my art and trust my intuition. I find both the physical (hand\eye) act of mark-making and the mental process spiritual and meditative.

As everyone has a distinctive way of expressing themselves, so do I.

My art brings the private me—my inner life—to the outside world, and shows how mark-making, my love of minute details and my fascination with the “ordinary,” makes both me and my art unique.

20 Comments

  1. I love your bio, your self-assessment. I always enjoy seeing what you’ve been doing. Always interesting.

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  2. hi Nancy……love your work……having been a calligrapher since 1982 and specializing in illumination i am very much into extreme detail so your work is very attractive and exciting to me for want of a better word….i find the scratchboard is very meditative and puts me in a very calm and peaceful space….thanks, Marvin

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  3. Hi—

    You had said you liked my posts and planned to come back for more. The feeling is mutual: I find your style unique and compelling—even when it’s depicting something with subtlety. I am now your newest follower.

    Cheers,
    Annir

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    1. Thank you, Angie. I looked at your bird drawings and they are just gorgeous! I fell in love with working with scratchboard so if you have not tried it I would recommend it.–Nancy

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