why sgraffito?
Welcome to sgraffito writing ... 'sgraffito is the art of scratching beneath the surface to reveal the layer beneath'
Sgraffito has been employed in many art forms over the centuries including painting, printing and ceramics. It began as a form of decorative plasterwork and the word itself can be traced back to the greek - 'to write'.
It's a simple method many of us would have first enjoyed at kindergarten, clad in those puffy gingham smocks wielding a jumbo sized paintbrush we would happily spread one thick coat of bright gooey paint all the way to the edge of a large sheet of butchers paper. As well as a liberal dose on the floor, the wall and that freckly kid on the other side of the easel. Then the parent on duty would very carefully hang it out to dry. But there would never be quite enough pegs so, eventually it was left dangling by one corner, dripping and flapping in the wind, sticking to itself like bird pooh to the car window until it ripped away completely. Later, after being rescued from the end of the playground or dug out of the sandpit the unfortunate object was subjected to another coat of rather watery black paint (black must have been much more expensive than primary colours?). This bonox coloured liquid would be zealously slopped over that first layer of hardened colour. Then just before it was completely dry and your mum could be seen chatting to all the other mothers outside, taking an icy pole stick the budding artist would etch squiggles and lopsided shapes leaving a magical design revealed in the first paint colour. Surely you can remember those magnificent masterpieces?My point is that we all learn pretty early on that there is more to most things than what we can actually see. The inspiration behind this blog is to reveal those hidden layers in writing.
