Alice Lacey| 1990| 63 of 75

About the Artwork

Alice Lacey (1990) is an etching and aquatint with hand-colouring by David Blackwood (1941–2022), created as a portrait not of a face but of a world. The print divides into two panels joined as a diptych: on the left, pink roses in full bloom rest in a round glass vase against a darkened interior; on the right, a Wesleyville saltbox house stands beneath dramatic storm clouds, with a picket fence marking the boundary between cultivated ground and wild sky. The hand-colouring creates a warm-cool contrast—pink and green against blue-grey—linking the domestic sphere with the forces beyond it.

Miss Alice Lacey was a former teacher of David Blackwood's in Wesleyville, a keeper of community memory who witnessed the harbour in its prime. In William Gough's 2001 monograph, she recalled: "There was a time here, if you sat down and looked out at the motorboats going, and up here along what we call 'the reach,' there were as many as sixty-four schooners. And in the spring when they were getting ready and all had their sails up, you could go right up the reach, jumping from one deck to another. People were proud of it."¹ This print stands as a portrait of her spirit—cultivated beauty preserved inside while witnessing the world transform outside.

The diptych format itself becomes symbolic: the roses represent care, cultivation, and domestic grace; the house and storm sky embody permanence tested by time and nature. The fence divides cultivated from wild, inside from outside, memory from change. In Blackwood's hands, ordinary objects become a language for honouring those who shaped him—teachers, elders, witnesses to a vanished world.

Dimensions and Details

• Title: Alice Lacey
• Artist: David Blackwood (1941–2022)
• Year: 1990
• Size: 11" x 14" (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
• Medium: Etching and aquatint with hand-colouring on paper
• Edition: 63/75
• Condition: Pristine. This impression has never been displayed and remains in museum-quality condition. Stored in archival darkness since creation, the hand-coloured pinks retain full saturation, the aquatint sky shows complete tonal gradations, and the paper remains bright white with no mat shadow or discolouration. Colours are noticeably more vibrant than works exposed to ambient light. Professionally framed; signed and numbered by the artist.

Acquisition Enquiries

Alice Lacey is offered exclusively through West End Gallery. Serious acquisition enquiries are welcome. We invite you to contact us directly to arrange a private viewing. Layaway options are available upon request. Shipping is quoted based on location; local delivery within Edmonton and surrounding communities is complimentary.