Boscastle Harbour
By Peg Morris
Original artwork
Limited edition etching
Framed and unframed versions available
Image size: H: 25cm x W: 30cm
Framed size: H: 44cm x W: 48cm
Framed version - £285
Peg produces her landscape scenes from detailed drawings and also, sometimes, paints the same scenes before transforming them into prints. She is an able and observant draughtwoman, undaunted by perspective or complexity, whether its European cityscapes and rooftops, building details or coastal scenes.
This is a gorgeous and slighty haunting vision of the medieval Boscastle Harbour, originally built to handle trade in slate from the nearby Delabole quarries, with its famous blow hole.
The Etching Process:
"The line is made using a hard ground which is made of beeswax, bitumen and resin which is applied to the plate as a resist to the acid. I draw the image using an etching needle which exposes the metal where the lines are drawn. The plate is then put into the acid and the lines are etched. The etched lines hold the ink which is rubbed over the surface of the plate and the excess is wiped away.
"The tones are added using aquatint. This is a fine resin powder which is spread over the plate using an aquatint box which has paddles to stir the dust up before the plate is placed inside the box for the dust to settle on the surface of the plate. The aquatint dust is then heated so the tiny particles melt and fuse onto the surface of the plate. The tones are then 'stopped out' using stop out varnish, sharpie pens for fine details and litho crayons for graduated tones, all of which resist the acid.
"I start by stopping out all the areas which are to remain white, then put the plate into the acid for a few seconds to etch a pale grey. The areas to be kept at this pale grey tone are then stopped out and the plate is returned to the acid to etch it a little longer for the next tone. This is repeated until all the desired tones have been built up, with the final tone being black.
"Once the plates had been etched they are printed onto dampened paper using an etching press. Ink is spread over the whole surface of the plates and then the excess is carefully wiped away using a soft cloth called scrim. The paper needs to be damp to allow it to be forced into the etched areas to pick up the ink and print the image which of course comes out in reverse, so the whole image was reversed when it was transferred to the plate so that the finished print is the right way round. Every print in the edition is inked, wiped and printed by hand."
ABOUT PEG MORRIS
Weather, decay, abandonment, rust, erosion and the effect of changing light conditions; all processes of transformation of the landscape, objects or buildings, inside and out. These effects of ageing and time passing provide a starting point for Peg's work which is rooted in drawing and observation. The process of etching lends itself to representing these themes as the plate is itself eroded by the acid, scraped and polished, scratched and sometimes cut into fragments.
Based on detailed observation, Peg draws, paints, makes etchings, collagraphs, lithographs and artist’s books. The subject matter dictates how the final piece will be made. This may change and evolve as Peg works or she may use more than one process in the finished piece.
Peg works at Kew Print Studio and teaches etching. She has recently had work exhibited at Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair (2020/2021) and at the Mall Galleries (2021). Her work is held in the V&A archive and the Printmakers Council Archive, as well as in private collections across the UK and abroad.