Val Leckie

BIOGRAPHY

I discovered etching at Art School. I was studying Fine Art, so I could roam around the building and use any of the facilities I wished. My fellow students were mostly involved in performance pieces and conceptual art. However, I became obsessed with the idea of skill and craftsmanship. Printmaking became part of that obsession. Silkscreen, lithography and etching were fascinating mediums to me. Etching became my favourite medium. I love the quality of the etched line and the depth of expression aquatint can give to an image. 

As I now live in Oban next to the sea, I spend a lot of time drawing the tides, skies, and islands all constanly shifting and changing with light and weather. I find the jottings, smudgings and marks I make in my sketchbooks the springboard for the images that the etching process reveals.