An image from a thousand scratches

What you see above may look like a black and white photograph (as many people have told me), but these are in fact scratchboard etchings. What is that you ask? It's a form of etching where instead of scratching a metal plate and then printing ink from the reverse, I scratch black ink off of a white clay board to create the etching. These art works you are buying are the original etching, not a reprint. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Ever since I was a kid I loved any and all forms of art, especially black and white pencil drawings. In high school art class we had an assignment to make a scratchboard etching of an animal. It was my first time doing a negative etching and I instantly fell in love. I ordered some fresh boards from a local art shop with my savings and began etching flowers and animals just for myself and the fun of it. It was simply something I loved doing. I quickly discovered that my friends and family also liked what I was creating, and began making my works as gifts. Since then, I have expanded into selling my art works at markets and here on etsy in an effort not to become a famous artist, but to finance the activity that gives me the greatest joy, share it with others who may also enjoy what I love, and also to lessen the amount of art I have made that my parents are currently storing.

I love making scratchboard art. My hope with this shop is that I will get to share what I love with others like yourself and hopefully create something that you will love too.

Thanks for reading,
Elizabeth