Denis Baxter RBA

Statement

Through my etchings I try to evoke the atmosphere and feel of subject matter such as abandoned railway architectural structures e.g. viaducts or disused farm buildings. My still life subjects reflect the same interest I have in the play between light and shadows on objects, the interplay between negative and positive shapes.

Methodology

I work from drawings produced on site in pen and ink and I take photographs in difficult locations. The composition and size of the image is thoroughly worked out before transferring the image to an etching plate, although I often add or remove items to the image on the plate as it develops.

Etching involves preparing a ground on the plate and having the drawing on tracing paper placed on the ground with carbon paper to help transfer the image, tracing the line next with an etching needle and exposing the copper which is ready to be placed in dilute acid (the longer the plate is in the acid the stronger the line). Following on from line etching, the next stage is aquatinting the plate in order to achieve tonal variations, timing is critical at this stage of creating the image, I record the time used for each stage of the process. The etching goes through several proofs before I am finally satisfied to create a small limited edition.

Because so much time is involved in creating an etching, I only work on one at a time.

Bio

1936 Born on 1 March, Southsea, Hampshire

1965-68 Stockwell College of Further Education, Bromley, Kent

1969-75 Bournemouth and Poole College of Art

1970 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Artists

1975 Set up own studio for printmaking with the emphasis on etching

1981 Elected a Fellow of the Printmakers Council

1987 Elected a Member of the National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Printmakers

1989-2001 President of the National Society

1996- Engaged by the National Trust to hold painting and drawing workshops in stately homes

2002 Elected an Academician of the Royal West of England Academy

2002 Elected a Member of the Society of Graphic Fine Art

2003 Elected a Member of the Royal Society of British Artists

Memberships

Fellow of the Royal Society of Artists, Royal West of England Academy