Fleur de caprier

Judith Rothchild

Rothchild's mezzotint captures the delicacy of the flowers of the caper bush, which is also called Flinders rose. The bush is cultivated for its flower buds known as capers and its fruit known as caper berries. Both are pickled and used in Mediterranean cooking.

Judith Rothchild was born in the U.S. but lives and works in France. Her preferred printmaking medium is mezzotint, which develops an image from a black surface. This mezzotint of caper flowers runs the gamut from the intense black of the background to the bright touches of white light on the flowers.

Rothchild comments about her work: "The skill of the process is to bring up the image slowly, caressing the forms with the burnisher, occasionally printing proofs. At the same time, the surface of the plate evolves; the roughness becomes soft velvet and the plate is finally ready to return all the hours of drawing that one has put in."