William Gough, David Blackwood, Master Printmaker, Vancouver/ Toronto, 2001, pages 104 and 110-111, illustrated in colour
Despite Blackwood’s long residency in Ontario, he continues to produce artwork depicting Newfoundland and Labrador, specifically scenes of fisheries, resettlement, shipwrecks, the seal hunt, mummers and all aspects of outport life.
Blackwood is known for his striking blue-black etchings, illuminating and recording the history, legends and stories of life in Newfoundland. As Gough notes: “No matter how his eye is informed by the Old Masters, no matter how his hand moves to draw all manner of subjects, the underlying rhythm of where he grew up informs all that he does. Sometimes in a chill wind of spring he call still feel the vibration of rigging, can smell oakum and hear the hiss of waves cut by a far-off boat. His mind sees fire on ship, flames on water, and with etching plate and paper he binds the four elements. An artist, down on the Labrador.”
