scratchboard

You might say I added a pelican feather! “Breeding Plumage,” which I created on scratchboard and colored with inks, has won an award. It was just selected for an “Award of Merit” in the current Arts in the Airport exhibition at McGhee-Tyson Airport in Knoxville, TN. Juror Terri Jordan chose 3 winners from the 44 artworks in the show, awarding “Best of Show” plus two equal “Juror Citations – Awards of Merit.” This show is open to all types of … Read More

My scratchboard “Perfectionist” was just awarded “Award of Excellence” in the Open Division of the International Society of Artists (ISSA) annual exhibition. I was able to watch a video of last weekend’s award ceremony in Bradenton, FL, on the group’s private Facebook page and see photos of the unbelievable artwork of over 100 scratchboard fine artists from eight countries. My award is equivalent to 4th prize, as they gave a gold, silver, and bronze, followed by four equal Awards of … Read More

I’m delighted to announce that my artwork has just been juried into 2 upcoming annual exhibitions! I am amazed to have two of my  scratchboards chosen for the highly competitive 11th Annual Exhibition of the International Scratchboard Society, to be held in December 2022 in Florida. Also, for the fifth consecutive year, my art will be included in the 54th Annual Open Show of the Oak Ridge (Tennessee) Art Center, held during October and November 2022. Here are the details … Read More

I love doing paintings of old barns, and it was time I did an icon – a “See Rock City” barn. For over 80 years, “See Rock City” barns have dotted the rural landscape. Bold lettering on the sides and roofs of country barns on two-lane rural roads invited visitors to a Chattanooga TN tourist attraction, a marketing idea of Rock City founder Garnet Carter. When he retired in 1969, Clark Byers, a self-taught painter and advertising firm employee, had … Read More

“Hand Made: Scratchboard” has just been released, featuring me as a Scratchboard Artist! I am honored to be the focus of a new episode of Hand Made, a series produced by the Tellico Village Network. Host Greg Downs highlights artisans and craftspeople who use their creativity and skills to make unique works of art. The production crew visited me and did a fabulous job of interviewing, filming, and editing this fine video. See if you agree – take a look … Read More

I just learned that I have been awarded 2nd Place in the Active Division of the 2022 Online Show of the International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA)! “I Will Twine,” a 7″ x 5″ Scratchbord™ is my winner. It is such an honor to be selected for this prize in an organization representing scratchboard artists from all around the world. You can view the show on the ISSA website and see the unbelievably amazing scratchboards. My scratchboard “Silly Selfie” is … Read More

For the next 3 days I will be demonstrating the art of scratchboarding – one of my favorite art activities – during the annual Art Show at Tellico Village (Tennessee). I’ll be sharing my scratchboarding techniques, materials, tips, favorite scratching tools, samples of finished scratchboard art, and works in progress. Many are not familiar with scratchboards and I am often asked about how I get so much detail and drama in my scratchboard paintings. Here’s the chance to find out … Read More

After working in watercolors for recent months I’ve been anxious to switch over to scratchboarding again. I was inspired to create an image with various stages of the wild thistle plant, so full of a variety of textures. Using Photoshop, I combined a couple of photos I had taken of wild thistle growing near my house. Thistle is a plant which often has several stages of growth showing at once, including spiny flower pods, fully opened flowers, and the delicate … Read More

I love scratchboarding and I love chocolate, so I decided to combine the two in creating How Sweet It Is. I painted a big watercolor of chocolates years ago, Decadence, and it has always ranked among my personal favorite paintings. Even though this is a very very small artwork – just 4.5″ x 3″ – it took forever! The image was created with tiny marks into the black surface, slowly working my way throughout the panel. To be able to … Read More

I just heard that two of my paintings have been accepted to an upcoming biennial exhibition called “No Bigger Than a Breadbox.” There were 384 entries and only 67 have been juried into the show, so I am delighted with the news. My black Scratchbords “Locked In Time”, with color added with inks, and “Eye Of The Tiger” will be featured. (You can see the small size of “Eye Of The Tiger” shown in my hand in the photo). The … Read More