Jennifer Hartwig-Klingbel

My work is a direct expression of my journey out of darkness. The dark is my scary place and also a safe place. For many years I hid my demons in darkness. Eventually I found myself hiding in the darkness as well.

I began with little confidence, but soon became aware that I could intuit an inspiration by looking at what’s not there, what can’t be seen moving somewhere deep in my fear of nothingness. I found beauty by learning imperfection, and the courage of self control with just a suggestion of light or bold contrast. 

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Scratchboard allows me to literally etch light from dark with fine precision and subtle shades. My subject comes alive and emerges from the darkness with each dot and scratch I place on the board. A layer of black ink is scraped or picked away as thin as a hair and as small as a speck of dust to reveal a white clay with a porcelain glow underneath.

It is a joy to do a portrait of someone’s pet or reproduce a moment in the wild and create more than a picture perfect image of an animal. The scratchboard skills I learned over the last 15 years let me explore nuances of character, subtle movements of feathers or fur, and the mood behind a primitive expression as my scratches in the darkness reveal their light. 

There are many tools for working on a scratchboard, where even a bit of steel wool can both reveal just enough white clay below the layer of black ink to show a horse breathing heavily and organically etch the unique texture of a rhino’s horn. When staining the surface of the white clay with colored inks the same variation of scratching now reveals hues of bright light and textured shadows, and when the board is finished and sealed with satin acrylic anything not scratched returns to it’s empty black. 

For me the journey does not end with wildlife and pet portraits where I speak to the animal and draw them out of the dark. Each scratchboard I do represents a part of me that is emerging as I explore myself and life around me.

You can learn more by visiting Jennifer’s website here. Or follow her on Facebook, and see more of her work on Instagram.