Untitled (Two Yachts Racing) c. 1935

Earl Horter made this image of two yachts racing using etching techniques. There's something mesmerizing about how Horter renders the sails. Look at the way he makes these lines, almost like whispers. Each mark seems intentionally placed, almost vibrating with the energy of the race. It reminds me of my own process, where I'm constantly adjusting, reacting to each line, each shape as it emerges. The texture of the paper becomes part of the image, adding a tactile quality to the scene, like the spray of the ocean itself. The thinness of the lines used to create the rigging contrasts with the deep black of the waves. Horter’s work reminds me a bit of some of the seascapes of someone like Emil Nolde. Like Horter, he’s interested in capturing not just the look, but the feeling of being out on the water. Art, for me, is all about that kind of conversation across time and space, a way of seeing and feeling that keeps evolving, never quite settling on one fixed meaning.