Old Fence
Emily Holland

This week I get to brag a little about my youngest daughter Emily who starts college at UC Davis today. I'm going to feature her artwork all week so you can get a glimpse inside her world through her art. All my daughters are smart and creative in their own ways, but Emily really got my "art gene" in a bad way. She has been blowing us away from an early age with her abilities to work and be successful with different media.

These are examples of her scratchboard drawings. Scratchboard, if you don't know, is thick white paper with a thin layer of black (I think clay) on top. You simply scratch away the black with a sharp tool (like an x-acto blade) to create your drawing.



This forest scene was one of her first scratchboards and it's got to be my favorite. It has such a German Expressionist feeling to it. For me, it vibrates with the same intensity of the artwork from that turn of the century era, a time when the world was changing and the images born reflected that unease. Art critic Robert Hughes called it, "the shock of the new", when all the academic ideals of art were challenged. So perfect for Emily, (who's always questioning and challenging the status quo), as she enters college and the beginning of a new century.

On Wednesday we'll take a look at her sculptural work and on Friday her oil paintings.