Research Guides: Chris Ekstrom: Work in Progress: Home

Introduction by Chris Ekstrom

My name is Chris Ekstrom and I’m an assistant gardener here at The New York Botanical Garden. Before getting into horticulture, I worked in a glass etching studio where we sandblasted words and images onto glass. Since then, I’ve worked with several other media, two of which are shown in this display case, scratchboard and etching. It was my instructor Dick Rauh who first introduced me to the art of scratchboard while working towards my Botanical Illustration Certificate in the Garden’s Continuing Education Program. The extreme values of black and white together with the sharp contrast of a scratched line really make an image pop. These days, I like to etch as there’s more potential for a greater range of effects with the medium. A few tools and preliminary sketches for these various processes are included in this display. Process is an important part of mastery for any craft or discipline and mastering my craft plays an important role in my position at the Garden.