Description
Aerial Ballet No. 2 by Lindsey Kiser
Aerial Ballet No. 2 is an original artwork by Lindsey Kiser completed in traditional scratchboard by removing the black ink off of the surface of the panel with a knitting needle to expose the white china clay underneath. Aerial Ballet showcases a male ruby-throated hummingbird about to drink nectar from Clethra alnifolia ‘Hummingbird’, which is commonly known as Hummingbird Summersweet Clethra. The fragrant white blossoms attract hummingbirds.
Clethra is a native plant to Kentucky, and ranges from Maine to Florida and even Texas. This species of Clethra grows thirty to forty feet tall and wide at a slow growth rate. It has yellow fall color and prefers moist acidic soils.
THE ARTISTIC PROCESS
I studied the hummingbirds on Clethra during my tenure as “Artist-in-Residence” of the Friends of Boone County Arboretum in July. I took several photographs of the white blossoms and hummingbirds and composed the composition in my mind’s eye back in the studio. I etched the scratchboard with a sharpened sewing needle to reveal the white clay under the black layer. This 8″ x 8″ scratchboard is dramatic in black and white to showcase the beautiful cross-hatching and wide range of shades of gray.
