BIG INK: Plein Air Woodcut

A Woodcut Master Copy: John Singer Sargent’s Plein Air Sketch Reinterpreted as an Engraving

My background as printmaker hasn’t been flexed in some time, opting to work directly in 2D mediums and genres. The printmaking process is laborious and one needs to carefully choose subject matter to nurture as the technical demands are as steep as the learning curve even when under the guidance of master printmaker. I had the honor of learning from the best printmakers at Wayne State University: Aris Koutroulis (Tamarind Master Printmaker: Lithography, Cliche-verre ), Stanley Rosenthal (etching, sugarlift aquatint) and Tom Woodward (collograph).

The seasonal calling of painting plein air landscapes is undeniable, which led me to travel to locations as “artist colonies” (Giverny, Paris, Cape Ann, Brandywine, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Jamaica). Inspired by these communities I founded Zane Grey Plein Air and since 2018 have hosted workshops and events at historic locations with a few online.

Eliza Pratt Greatorex
(1819—1897)

Eliza Pratt Greatorex was an Irish-born American artist who was affiliated with the Hudson River School. She is known for her landscape paintings as well as for several series of pen-and-ink drawings and etchings that were published in book form. She was the second woman to be elected an associate of the National Academy of Design, following Ann Hall.

Greatorex first became known as a landscape painter of the Hudson River School.[2] She often worked en plein air, and her landscapes reflect her careful observation of her environment.[8] Her best-known paintings are View on the Houstonic (1863), The Forge (1864), and Somerindyke House (1869).[2] One series of paintings was executed on panels taken from specific churches; these include Bloomingdale Church and The North Dutch Church (painted on panels taken from the North Dutch Church on Fulton Street in New York City) and St. Paul's Church, painted on a panel taken from that church.[9]

After a few years, Greatorex's artistic practice migrated from painting to pen-and-ink sketches, which she elaborated as etchings. Experimenting with new printing methods, Greatorex published many of her images in book form.[10] Many of her sketches consist of architectural subjects, often framed by foliage, and drawings of landscapes produced during several trips to Europe in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1870–1872, she visited Nuremberg and Ober-Ammergau, Germany; Munich, Austria; and various parts of Italy. The Nuremberg and Ober-Ammergau trips led to the publication of Etchings in Nuremberg (1873) and The Homes of Ober-Ammergau (1873).[2] Her large pen-and-ink drawing of Albrecht Dürer's house in Nuremberg is now in the Vatican in Rome.[6]
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REFERENCES:
Grand Women Artists of the Hudson River School, Smithsonian Magazine. Remember the Ladies, Women of the Hudson River School, Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Hudson NY