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Michael Richecoeure,
born in Jersey 1946 where he still lives and works. Editioning his own etchings and
now has 375 different images of which 70 are still available - due to high demand. Michael is married
and has two grown-up children Alexandre 28 and Ellenore 26.
Elected to the Printmakers Council of Great Britain
when he was still in his early twenties, Michael is today admired as one of England's most established
printmakers. Following graduation from Portsmouth College of Art in 1965, Richecoeur was admitted to the
world-renowned Slade and Royal College of Art - where, at the latter, he received a Master's Degree in
1971. A Fellowship at Yale University in 1970 completed Richecoeur's training and provided enriching
experience in the medium of his specialty - colour etching. Richecoeur's impeccable intaglio technique
and the gentle, oriental mood of his landscape subjects have met with considerable praise from
collectors worldwide who provide an enthusiastic audience for his new etching work.
Images.
After graduating from RCA he returned to his native Jersey where he has established a fully equipped
working studio. From student to practicing artist he has always had a pre-occupation with his
surrounding landscape. Although Michael expresses himself in all mediums it is with etching that he
finds most 'empathy'. Enjoying and reveling in the technical problems that are inherent in this
technique - striving to extend the possibilities and boundaries of what can be achieved.
A Few Words about Etching:
Etchings are not reproductions - they are original works of art conceived
and created by an artist who is deliberately using this chosen medium to create an effect which could
not be achieved in any other way.
The controlled
erosion of the surface of a metal plate using acid, creates the image. First the plate is covered with a
specially prepared acid resistant ground of black wax or ground. The design is then drawn on the black
ground with a sharp point or "etching needle" to reveal the bright metal below. Aquatint is used to
create tonal areas. In this process a dusting of fine-grained resin is fused onto the plate by heat to
leave a grained pattern of bare metal. The prepared plate is then immersed in nitric acid, which bites
into the bared metal: the length of time the acid remains on the metal governs the depth of the line
bitten the deeper the line, the darker it will print. Those parts of the design, which have been
sufficiently worked, can be "stopped-out" with varnish to prevent any further biting while the remainder
of the image is completed.
When printing, the plate is inked and wiped so that the ink remains only
in the etched lines or areas. It is then printed under pressure onto dampened paper, producing the plate
mark common to both etchings and engravings. The plate is re-inked for each individual print therefore
each is unique. It is now less common for the artist to produce his own prints. But Michael Richecoeur
prints each image himself ensuring that every print is a "one off" by the artist. The plate and the
printer evolve in their relationship so that as the edition is completed, usually over several months,
subtle changes occur and the image, the plate and the printing process becomes unified, but never
mechanical. The artist, if he is the printer, is constantly striving to express the original idea. |
