Scratchboard

Artist Statement

“Bold Details - The Dirt On Our Feet” is trying to communicate the intricate, interconnected beauty of the natural world. I wanted to focus on Mushrooms for this piece because they are such a key part of the lifecycles of the forest. Mushrooms physically form a chain of interconnected “roots” that are called mycelium. They are absolutely vital to the health of a forest. This is why I wanted to use them. To show the web of life that is all around us, and in this case, the web of life that is in the dirt on our feet. We walk on this planet as if it is unshakeable. As if we can not damage the beauty that lives all around us. I wish to offer, with this piece, that the bold details of the mushroom are not just dirt on our feet, but instead are the foundation of the soil we walk on. It is vital that we recognize this interconnected world that is both in the dirt we walk on, and all around us in the world.

This work was made using scratchboard. Scratchboard is a very thin clay board that has been covered with Indian ink. I then used an assortment of tools to scratch away the areas that I wanted to make lighter. I used a very basic scratch tool that has a pointed tip that flattens out into an arrow shape. I found that this gave me the clear lines that I wanted the mushroom to have. The scratchboard worked really well because it gave a very good contrast between the black and white.

To start this piece, I had to find a reference image, which is no easy task. I started by going for a walk in the woods, and taking many photos along the way, of things I found interesting or intriguing or that were beautiful. When I sat down to sort through my photos, I found that I had taken a lot. I sorted through the approximately 260 photos that I had taken and eventually settled on one. However I found that this one didn’t look the best in black and white, so I went back in and found a new photo. I wasn’t very excited with the image that I had, so I went through one last time to see if I had any old photos that were good. After much ado, I found an old photo that I took of a mushroom. Once I made it black and white I started working on the actual project. I found it was really fun in the end because I got to play with creating the right texture for the mushroom.