Artist's Statement:

My works on paper are inspired by the natural landscape, the images are impressionistic representations of panoramic or more specific views, giving an intimate insight into depth, detail and textures in the landscape. I love water formed reflections, a living landscape, in particular the light forming shadows created as natural shapes block and break it, forming its own ever changing bright and dark patterning - the contrasts that natural light produces, allowing a dramatically created image, the vibrant and subtle shades of colour the landscape displays at different hours of the day and with the changes of season, inspiring my hand coloured etchings. The landscape offers endless numbers of images, multiple forms, shapes and spaces ready for the etching experience - creating its own energy and balance. In my etchings, I aim to draw the viewer more closely into the landscape, to appreciate its beauty and scale. Share with me my passion for its richness.

About the Artist:

Barbara Bennett is a well known printmaker producing fine quality etchings reflecting her love of the landscape, particularly the unique combination of rivers, forest and spectacular southern coastal scenery where she lives near Denmark, Western Australia. Her reputation is evident in her high quality works. With intricate detail that enhances the stark contrasts of light and darkness, the focus of her sepia and her black and white etchings, and with the additional use of multiple colour etching plates and subtle hand colouring techniques, vividly illuminating the print, her etchings are almost brought to life, creating moods, emotions and an almost tangible feeling of tranquillity and gentleness, indicative of an artist at one with the natural environment. Producing an etching is a long process involving many stages in the working of a plate from which each print in an edition is pulled, the resulting effect not being obtained by any other artisitc method. Barbara has translated numerous images into etchings that enable the viewer to appreciate more intensely the beauty of landscape.

curriculum vitae

An ORIGINAL LIMITED EDITION ETCHING by BARBARA BENNETT involves the following techniques:

A. Line Etching:

1. Applying an acid resistant ground onto a polished zinc plate
2. Drawing the image lines in reverse with an etching tool to remove the ground and expose the plate.
3. Placing the plate into acid that etches the exposed drawn image lines.
4. Different lengths of time in the acid produce different depths of line.
5. The ground is removed leaving a clean plate with the image etched into it.

To enhance the image further, tones can be introduced to the drawn image by:

B. Aquatint Etching

1. To produce fine or coarse tonal areas, a fine or coarse spray of enamel paint is applied to the drawn image lines.
2. Placing the plate into acid etches the exposed areas of the plate.
3. Different lengths of time in the acid produce different depths of tone.
4. The paint is removed and the plate is now ready for printing.

Printing

1. Etching ink is pressed into the etched lines and tonal areas with a rubber squeegee.
2. A 100% acid free paper is placed over the inked plate and together run through the etching press under the pressure of two steel rollers.

The print produced will be the reverse of the drawn image with an embossed edge due to thickness of the plate and the pressure applied by the press.

This is an ORIGINAL LIMITED EDITION PRINT

1. Each consecutive etching printed from the plate is inked and printed separately on the etching press, making each etching an original.
2. A selection of the etching edition can be marked as Artists Proofs (A/P).
3. The total number of the etchings printed in an edition may vary. All etchings are consecutively numbered over the total. e.g.1/50, 2/50,3/50.up to 50/50.