Bluebells and Ramsons

Bluebells and Ramsons depicts two species that share the floor of Irish deciduous woodlands in late spring: Hyacinthoides non-scripta, with its arching racemes of nodding violet-blue bells, and Allium ursinum, the white-flowered wild garlic that carpets damp ground in the same weeks. The combination of techniques — etching for the linear drawing of stems, leaves, and bell-flowers; aquatint for tonal modelling; carborundum for deep saturated darks — is characteristic of Doyle's mature intaglio practice. Carborundum in particular allows the dense glossy strap-leaves of ramsons to read against the more delicate bluebell foliage. Compositionally, prints of woodland-floor species often work as horizontal bands of mingled stems rather than as isolated specimens, and the title's pairing suggests the plant-community observation that distinguishes her hedgerow and meadow work from her cultivated-garden studies. The subject is one of the more recognisable signatures of an Irish spring, and the print belongs to the strand of her output rooted in the wild flora of the island rather than the imported plants of the great horticultural gardens.