Artist Statement

This piece was created for the Donate Life competition, as a poster to promote organ and tissue donation. The inspiration for this piece came from a playing card- the poster is based on the queen of hearts, playing with the idea of the card and the organ in one. I liked the symmetry of the cards, the way the shapes mirrored each other. I decided to put a spin on it, instead of mirroring the same image, I would take the general shape and copy it with a different figure. I came up with the tagline to match it, "Have a heart, give one away" and portrayed a woman holding a heart in the center, with a man on the other side, receiving it. Both have flowing lines from their heads, the woman, her hair, and the man, tubes and a hospital gown.

To make this piece, I used scratchboard, which I was wary about, but it surprised me with its ease. I worried that the material would be too hard to work with, as marks that are made cannot be covered with more layers like paint, or added to with detail that coloured pencils could provide.

My process was fairly quick, but precise. I began with measuring the border on the outside, per the requirements for the entry. I then measured the borders that you see in the actual piece, creating the space where the words would go. I then scratched in the hearts in the corners and the outlines of the words. I then went in with smaller marks to add detail to the letters. Before beginning the main image, I traced the idea with a black pen, making lines that were subtle enough that they would not disrupt the finished product, but noticable enough that I could use them as a guide. I then traced the shape of the figures, adding more details as I went along. The last things I did were adding the lines to the braids of the giver and the feature of both. I made a last-minute change and scratched out the heart in the middle, to draw attention to it and give it contrast from the black scratchboard. I was pleasantly surprised with the result.