Eline Brontsema: The Fun in Finality

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Eline Brontsema won the Relief Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work Stadtbad Spandau Nord. In this interview, she discusses the physical demands of woodcutting, allowing for spontaneity within her process, and the beauty of working slowly.

Above image: Eline in the studio

Stadtbad Spandau Nord, 2024
Eline Brontsema
Woodcut, 71.2 x 47.9 cm | 28 x 18.8 in

Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background?

Eline: I’ve been drawing my whole life, and from a young age, I wanted to go to art school. After high school, I enrolled in the preparatory program at the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen. I was looking for an art program where I could learn technical skills. I was always drawing, but I also wanted to learn to paint well. Ultimately, I didn’t find what I was looking for. So I started studying Philosophy at the University of Groningen. That was fun, but after I finished, I still wanted to be an artist. After working for a while, I finally enrolled in the art academy, the Klassieke Academie in Groningen, the Netherlands, in 2014. Including the preparatory program, the study took six years. I graduated in 2020. This was what I’d always wanted!

Drying the prints

Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals?

Eline: I work long days. The technique I use is very time-consuming and takes a tremendous amount of time. I make prints, so I work with editions. I don’t like to spend more than one day on a particular colour; otherwise, I’d feel like a ‘factory’. I make editions of 20 to 25 pieces. Printing the entire edition in one colour takes me at least eight hours. It’s not just about printing a whole edition; it’s also about figuring out how I want to approach it that day, and also mixing and testing colours takes a lot of time. But of course, I always start with a cup of coffee. I try to be finished around dinnertime so I can go home.

Het douchegordijn, 2025
Eline Brontsema
Woodcut, 47.6 x 35.9 cm | 18.7 x 14.1 in

Josephine: Which materials or tools could you not live without?

Eline: I’m very keen on high quality materials. My gouges are, of course, crucial for carving the wood panel. I use Pfeil gouges from Switzerland, and I make sure I keep them sharp by maintaining and sharpening them properly.

Spatulas at the end of the day

Josephine: Do you work from a reference? What is your process?

Eline: I use sketches and take photographs. I enjoy drawing on location, usually with pencils or pen, but sometimes also with watercolour, coloured pencils, or pastels. I create the woodcut in my studio. There, I transfer the drawing to a wooden plate that I’ve cut to size.

Euvelgunnerheem, slaapkamer, 2020
Eline Brontsema
Woodcut, 36 x 24.4 cm | 14.1 x 9.6 in

Josephine: Do you regularly draw or keep a sketchbook? If so, how does this inform your work?

Eline: Drawing has always been very important to me, and I enjoy doing it. It’s important to be able to fully absorb the form. At art school, we worked from life, so without photos. This is what I enjoy most, and I also believe it’s the most educational. I’m still very happy I learned this.

I also use watercolour, coloured pencils, and sometimes pastels. The medium I choose depends on the subject and what I’m in the mood for. Enjoyment is very important to me.

Naaidoos, 2022
Eline Brontsema
Woodcut, 33.7 x 40.3 cm | 13.2 x 15.8 in

Josephine: Have you ever had a period of stagnation in creativity? If so, what helped you overcome it?

Eline: It might sound strange, but no. So far, I haven’t experienced this, thankfully. I certainly hope it stays that way, although a dip can certainly be part of it. I have so many ideas, too many, in fact. My working method, the reduction technique, is very slow. So I can never shape all my ideas. I have notebooks full of notes and ideas, enough to fill a lifetime. That enthusiasm to create something is a fantastic feeling. At the same time, I also love to fully focus on what I’m working on at that moment and immerse myself in my subject. Writing down and sketching other ideas helps with that; then I can let go of that idea and concentrate on what I’m doing. I always enjoy going to my studio and am always happy and grateful to be able to work again. I truly see this as a privilege.

Cutting wood

Josephine: Are there any specific artists or mentors who have inspired you?

Eline: I love art. I have many art books and enjoy visiting museums. This has been this way my whole life, and will never stop, I think. My taste is always evolving. People often ask me which woodcut artists inspire me, but that question sometimes surprises me. A lot of different art forms inspire me, not necessarily just woodcuts. I look at paintings more often, but maybe that’s because I am trained as a painter. Videos or films can be just as interesting. But my greatest source of inspiration is the world around me.

Drying the prints

Josephine: What were you thinking about or exploring at the time you made Stadtbad Spandau Nord? What inspired it, and how did it come to be?

Eline: I’m currently working on a project about Berlin’s public swimming pools. Berlin has many swimming pools, more than 60, and at one time, there were even 120. Architecturally, they are very diverse. Some were built at the end of the 19th Century, some in the 1920s or 1950s, during the GDR, or more recently. They all have their own unique beauty, and I find them all fascinating.

I’ve been working on this project for quite some time and am in regular contact with the Berliner Bäder Betriebe. I travel to Berlin regularly and make arrangements to work at the pools outside of opening hours. Berlin is easily accessible from the Netherlands; several direct trains run there daily. Through acquaintances, I’ve learned to know people in Berlin who helped me with my project. They have a second home in the city where I can stay during my visits. This is very convenient and saves me a lot of money on hotels.

Compared to the Netherlands, the swimming culture in Germany is quite exotic. There are many more swimming pools, and I have the feeling that more people swim. Also school swimming still exists. Swimming and sports in general were also very important in the GDR. Perhaps this is still having an influence. You can also still see many remnants of the former bathhouse culture, where swimming pools were used for hygienic reasons.

Cutting wood

Josephine: Why did this piece feel like the right one to submit?

Eline: I’ve been working on my project for several years now, and this woodcut represents one of the first swimming pools I created. My experience in this pool was very rewarding, and I think the print perfectly reflects my feelings about the pool and the location itself. I have no idea if others can see that too, but for me, it is important.

Stadtbad Mitte “James Simon”, 2023
Eline Brontsema
Woodcut, 68.2 x 51.3 cm | 26.8 x 20.1 in

Josephine: How did it feel to move through the stages of the competition and win the Relief Award?

Eline: I’m incredibly honored to have won the Relief Award. I certainly didn’t expect this, especially considering the enormous number of participating artists. I was therefore very surprised! I know that printmaking is much more alive in England than in the Netherlands, which makes it all the more special for me. Of course I am very proud!

Josephine: Working with the ‘suicide method’ of woodcut leaves little room for correction. Do you ever allow yourself spontaneous decisions as you carve, or does the technique demand that everything be planned out in advance?

Eline: People often think that I plan incredibly far ahead. That’s actually not the case at all. Of course, I make a good drawing; that takes a lot of time. Only when I’m completely satisfied, do I transfer the drawing to a custom-cut wooden panel. At that point, I’ve decided how I want the composition to be. Although I can make as many adjustments as I want during the process, of course.

But everything else, like colour, I figure out during the process. To me, that’s also where the fun lies. If I had figured that all out beforehand, I wouldn’t have enjoyed creating the woodcut. Of course, it’s important to have a thorough understanding of colour and tonality to be able to estimate which colour I want to print that day, and what tone that colour should have. You can’t just print everything randomly, because the inks are transparent and mix when printed on top of each other.

I’m very interested in colour and devoted a lot of time to it during my studies. Since then, I’ve gained a lot of experience printing colour woodcuts, experimenting with many different options and trying things out.

When it comes to gouging, there’s no going back. There’s certainly no room for correction, but that’s precisely what appeals to me.

Monobloc, 2024
Eline Brontsema
Woodcut, 69.1 x 47.9 cm | 27.2 x 18.8 in

Josephine: What has been the most significant challenge in your woodcut practice so far, and how have you adapted to or overcome it?

Eline: It’s physically demanding work. From printing on the press, working with large, heavy ink rollers, and gouging away large areas of wood. Wood works completely differently from lino. Lino is as soft as butter, while wood gives a lot of resistance while cutting. The challenge is to be physically healthy and listen to your body, to avoid overexertion and to make sure I can continue my work for many years to come. Alternating the different tasks helps, of course.

Josephine: Are there any new materials or ideas you’re excited to explore using your prize?

Eline: Maybe I’ll try making something with linoleum. I know the material breaks down faster than wood, so you can do fewer colour layers. But I’m curious to see what I could do with it. I’ve used the material before, but I’m curious to see how I’d like to explore it further.

Schwimmhalle Finckensteinallee, 2024
Eline Brontsema
Woodcut, 67.8 x 51 cm | 26.6 x 20 in

Josephine: What’s coming up next for you?

Eline: For now, I’ll stick to my swimming pool project. I’m still very curious about it. There’s still so much to learn and explore. As long as I’m enthusiastic, I’ll keep going.

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