‘threeGent’

This post could also have been titled “triptych,” were it not for the fact that the origin of this story is in Ghent, not Liege.

Last weekend Renske and I were in Ghent. Since it has been a while since I was last there, I was curious to see if my enthusiasm about the city would be as great as before.

In short, “Definitely and definitely!

One of the earlier visits to Ghent was in 1994, a good 30 years ago. Unfortunately, at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Breda, where I was a high school student at the time, drawing was not a final exam subject. The drawing lessons stopped after the third year.
Fortunately there was a drawing teacher, Paul Moggré, who offered lovers of the subject to continue learning outside the regular lessons. We were two enthusiasts in number. Although actually three, because Paul was definitely one of us as a teacher. He introduced me to various graphic techniques, such as screen printing and etching.

For etching, we used a simple wooden stick with a nail in it. An inverted felt-tip pen cap served as protection for the sharp tip. The little pen is still in my drawing box from back then.

Paul prepared the etching plate with wax so that I could scratch it to my heart’s content and, above all, with extreme precision. Outside class at school and afterwards at home in my attic.
When the ‘scratched’ drawing was ready, the etching plate was put into an acid bath at school and all those little lines became very fine grooves, ready to be rubbed in with ink for the etching press. Not only the grooves of the etching plate, but also those of my fingers filled with ink more than once.

One of the etchings from that period is after an analogue photograph I took in 1994 of St. Bavo Cathedral in, indeed, Ghent.
The result of my drawing in mirror image on the etching plate was a series of six numbered prints. These did not travel the world and did not end up hanging in museums or galleries. However, one did hang on my grandmother’s wall. Like her I was very proud of it.

Last weekend I was reminded of that etching again when the cathedral regularly appeared in my field of vision during our visit. A different route and a different vantage point than then, but still made another photo. A photo that connects the recent past and the distant past.

Today I digitally captured the analog photo, etching plate and print. And with this post, the etching is going out into the (digital) world after all.