Roger Duffy

Artist Statement

“JUST INK”
Although Pen & Ink is the oldest form of illustration and writing known to mankind, it has been overlooked and almost forgotten in this modern age of technology. It takes a steady hand and a clear eye to lay the ink upon the paper with hopes of creating a lasting image. From the papyrus of Egypt to the silk in China artists have used ink to illustrate the grandeur of the world around us and the words that so inspire our soul. Men such as Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo and Rembrandt have had their pen & ink illustrations in Museums for thousands of years and have stunned the world with their art. The shadow that has been cast upon this earth from such inspired men has even covered this great country of America. Between the Gilded Age and the dawn of WW ll, was the Golden Age in American Illustrators and thousands of artists great and small picked up their pens and illustrated with ink.
This enduring shadow has fallen upon my feet and in some small way I have tried to capture the majestic world that we live in with the words of the Bible that have inspired our souls so greatly. Always inclined to art, but by chance at the age of 17 I received my first set of ink pens. Old and clogged with harden ink I carefully tried to preserve their usefulness and with my first feeble attempts there became a lasting friendship and love that has endured for my life time. It would seem each time I set at the palette of white paper and started to draw; I could hear the paper drink in the ink with eager expatiations of a new illustration to come.
I have participated in a few states with my work from Juried Exhibitions to group shows, from Museums to storefront galleries and on-line exhibitions. I am active in a hand full of local art groups and their exhibitions and my work seems to stick out with its Monochromatic imagery and detail. Out of all the exhibitions my personal favorite is the opportunity to do one man shows in local libraries. To be able to hang in a public setting multiple illustrations that have taken around six months each to complete and to see dozens of illustrations hanging each with its own technique, style and composition. I am in awe of what you can do with “Just Ink” and hope that I can cast a small shadow past my own feet.