Behind-the-Scenes Look into David Blackwood’s Studio
Janita Wiersma, former assistant to Blackwood, recently did an interview detailing his artistic process, and what it was like to work with the Canadian legend.
David Blackwood is a well known Canadian artist known for his depictions of Newfoundland culture. Blackwood utilized a unique art style called “intaglio,” which involved etching designs onto a copper plate, which was then covered in ink so the image could be transferred onto a canvas. Blackwood created more than 80 pieces of art over the course of his lifetime, with some of his work being displayed at the National Gallery of Canada at just 23 years old. Today, the Art Gallery of Ontario is hosting the David Blackwood: Myth and Legend exhibit, which is the world’s largest collection of his work.
In the late 1960’s-early 1970’s, when UTM was still named Erindale College, Blackwood worked as an artist-in-residence. He was a key figure in helping to establish our campus art gallery, located in Kaneff, which was later named in his honor.
For over a decade, Janita Wiersma worked as Blackwood’s studio assistant. She was recently interviewed by Foyer on her behind-the-scenes experiences working with Blackwood. The interview covered four key pieces in Blackwood’s collection, and Wiersma gave her insight on the creation story of each one.
The first piece covered is Ephraim Kelloway’s Door (2012), and Wiersma said this was one of the first pieces she helped work on. As the assistant, she performed tasks such as preparing the paper for the print. She detailed some of Blackwood’s artistic techniques, including wiping more ink off of the copper plates in areas where the painting needed to be lighter, like with the stars in this painting.
The second piece was The Nickerson Passing (2015), which was unique in that Wiersma had a more direct role in its creation. This image was created when Blackwood was in the hospital, so Wiersma would transport the copper plate to Blackwood so that he could etch the surface. She’d then return it to the studio and follow his meticulous instructions for soaking the plate in an acid bath, which would eat away at the copper surface, exposing the etchings. Leaving the plate in the bath for too long could’ve corroded the finer details of the image; Wiersma detailed how she handled the process with care so that Blackwood’s work would not be ruined. She also spoke to how empty and quiet the studio felt without Blackwood there.
The way Wiersma talked about Blackwood’s third piece, Hauling Oram’s House, 2018, is a testament to his dedication to the craft. The acid bath that this plate was dropped in ate away at the surface more quickly than expected. Instead of getting upset, Blackwood trusted the process, working his magic to enrich the final image through techniques like scraping and re-etching. To this Wiersma said, “He never tried to “master” the plate so much as collaborate with it, allowing the process to lead the way.”
The final piece Wiersma highlighted was Search Party Lost (1970-2021) a particularly interesting one as Blackwood actually lost the copper plate for it for over 40 years. Throughout his life Blackwood moved to different houses and studios but hadn’t found the plate. That was until 2017 when Wiersma was categorizing his over 200 plates, and found this missing one.The theme that shines through this interview the most is Blackwood’s undying love for his craft. Wiersma commented that, “He felt that the copper plate was like a piece of music; everyone interprets it differently, and he wanted to play it the way he heard it”. The full interview goes in depth describing various artistic techniques that Blackwood would use in this work to bring out the “music” within his copper plates. It is a fascinating read for anyone interested in unconventional art forms, or who has a deep appreciation for the representation of Canadian culture.
