My work focuses on drawing and, mostly, engraving copper plates. I do not use acid to engrave the plate, but a small tool called “burin” with which I carve into the plate to draw lines.
I learned burin engraving, an old technique that very few people master nowadays, during a two-year apprenticeship in France under the supervision of the great burin engraver, Marc Dautry. I first learned this technique by reproducing the works of great masters like Dürer, Goltzius, and Dautry.
Carving directly into copper and drawing highly precise lines appealed to me from the beginning. Because in burin engraving there is nothing but lines that give shape to the drawing, tones are achieved by varying the width and depth of the lines. Crosshatch patterns also help to create various textures and render all the different shades of optical gray.
For more than thirty years, I have perfected this technique, which allows me to engrave my changing perception of the surrounding world with delicate lines and textures.
I learned burin engraving, an old technique that very few people master nowadays, during a two-year apprenticeship in France under the supervision of the great burin engraver, Marc Dautry. I first learned this technique by reproducing the works of great masters like Dürer, Goltzius, and Dautry.
Carving directly into copper and drawing highly precise lines appealed to me from the beginning. Because in burin engraving there is nothing but lines that give shape to the drawing, tones are achieved by varying the width and depth of the lines. Crosshatch patterns also help to create various textures and render all the different shades of optical gray.
For more than thirty years, I have perfected this technique, which allows me to engrave my changing perception of the surrounding world with delicate lines and textures.