Almonds

Almonds turns Doyle's etched line to the fruit and seed of Prunus dulcis. The image likely shows the almond at one of two distinct life stages: the velvety green drupe still attached to the branch, with the kernel concealed within the leathery hull, or the shelled nut detached and grouped as a still-life subject. Either treatment allows her to exercise the contrast that copper-sulphate etching handles particularly well — fine descriptive line for the seam of the husk or the textured shell, against passages of aquatint to model the nut's matte volume. The choice of subject extends her work beyond the specifically Irish hedgerow into the wider repertoire of European fruit she has returned to over the years, alongside lemons, figs, and pears. As with all her plates, the printing is done under her own supervision at Graphic Studio Dublin, where she has worked since shortly after completing her Honours BA at NCAD in 1991.