Ian Westacott
Ian Westacott grew up in Myrtleford, Australia and completed a Diploma in Art and Design at Wangaratta Technical College in Northeast Victoria in 1975. Later he completed a Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1987. His first show was in Wangaratta in 1979 and since then he has exhibited in Australia, Scotland, France and England, including shows at the Australian Galleries and the William Mora Gallery in Melbourne, Brown’s Gallery and The Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh in Scotland. He has also exhibited the collection Double Vision, a collaboration with fellow print maker Raymond Arnold.
Westacott carries his etching plates to his subjects and works from life. He rarely uses photos or preparatory sketches preferring to rely on the image directly in front of him and on his memory. Back in the studio he slowly builds on the lines incorporating any marks already on the plate. “I’m obsessed with line” he says “it’s the clarity and transparency of the etched line which makes drawing come alive for me”.
