Huizer molen op de Molenberg 1888 - 1931

Willem Adrianus Grondhout etched this image of a windmill – the Huizer molen op de Molenberg – using various linear marks to create the scene. It's intriguing, right? I wonder what he was thinking. I can imagine him outdoors, bundled up against the elements to work on the plate in situ. Or perhaps he was working back in the studio after some time spent in the field, working from drawings, trying to recapture a moment of the everyday in the Dutch landscape. I love the feeling of the rough textures, the layering of the etching marks to create a sense of depth. See how the diagonal lines lead us up the stairs to the windmill itself? How do you think he managed to evoke a breezy sky with just a few simple strokes? I'm constantly inspired by the techniques and approaches of other artists. It reminds me that art is a conversation across time, that we're always building on what came before. Artists show us that expression embraces ambiguity, which means there is space for all of us in its unfolding meaning.