About Liz
I am a Toronto-based printmaker, visual artist, and educator. My practice includes drawing, painting, and printmaking. My interest is in landscape and how our perception of the landscape helps us define who we think we are. I am particularly drawn to water – especially fens, bogs, streams, rivers and lakes as well as the life these systems support. However, I am increasingly concerned about not only our water, but the native plant species and wildlife which our water systems sustain.  Like our environment, these things need to be cared for, protected, and nurtured.

About my printmaking
As a printmaker, I use etching, aquatint, drypoint, chine colle, and hand colouring to explore my subjects. Etching involves using acid to bite into or etch a metal plate.  I love to work with acid, as I am drawn to the unexpected, spontaneous mark making that can be achieved using acid.  Etching, especially on copper, produces very fine lines.  I usually use copper.  I begin by applying a resist to the copper plate.  When the resist has dried, I draw my image onto the plate.  Next, I put the plate into an acid bath.  The acid bites or etches the plate everywhere that the etching needle has penetrated the resist.  Aquatint is an etching technique that allows for the creation of various tones and textures. Fine rosin dust particles are fused to the metal plate.  Then, I paint my resist on to the areas of the plate that I want to protect from the acid.  I place my plate into the acid bath.  The acid bites any exposed areas.  The plate will remain in the acid bath for different times depending upon whether I want light, medium and/or dark values. Drypoint is a non-acid technique that involves drawing directly on to a metal plate using a drypoint needle.  The line drawn on the metal plate leaves a burr, which creates soft, velvety lines when ink is applied.  As the ink is caught in the burr and the burr is easily broken down by the pressure of the printing press, drypoints result in smaller sized editions.  Rembrandt was a Master of etching and drypoint.   Goya was a Master of aquatint.  Chine colle is another printmaking technique that I use in my work. Chine colle involves adhering one paper to another and then printing over both papers.  I use Japanese wheat or rice paste to adhere my paper, as these glues are strong and archival.

Every etching and drypoint is hand wiped and hand printed.  Often I hand colour my images using watercolour, pastel, or wax medium.   Typically, I print on traditional Western papers, handmade Japanese papers, and textiles.  The Western papers that I use are strong printmaking papers.   The handmade Japanese papers that I use are strong, resilient, and ideal for capturing the subtleties of a line etch, aquatint, or drypoint.  The textiles that I print on are usually vintage linen, cotton, or silk.   Vintage textiles have stood the test of time and while they may appear to be strong they are often fragile, worn, and require careful handling, which beautifully reflects my subject matter.