Bruce Varley

October 20, 2025

Bruce will present "A beginner’s Guide to Scratchboard" covering:

1) what is scratchboard and a bit of history

2) scratchboard materials and tools

3) scratchboard and relation to engraving and other subtractive art forms

4) How it works and what I do that’s a little different from usual scratchboard

About Bruce Varley:

I am an Air Force “brat” and have lived in many different places. The last assignment was in Taipei, Taiwan, for high school. Whilst there I took calligraphy and drawing classes from Paul Kuo and have had a continued interest in Asian art, especially ink painting (sumi-e) and wood block printing.

Although I have worked in a technical field for my entire career, I have always had room for creativity. My elective classes at university were painting, ceramics, drawing. At one point I was the part time editorial cartoonist for a now-defunct Austin newspaper. Pen and ink and lately watercolor have been a “through line” in my life.

A year or so ago, I read about scratchboard, researched the medium and spent time scrolling through Youtube videos. It seems a perfect blend of engraving and pen and ink. It is absolutely absorbing for me and hours will pass in a blink when scratching out an image.

Outside of the artistic realm I have a consulting business for fuels manufacturers and service organizations, I am on the board of directors for Hospice Brazos Valley, as well as being the current head of the board for Brenham Charity Boutique, a local 501(c)3 Upscale Resale Shop.

In the past year my scratchboard work has garnered half and dozen ribbons.

Contact Bruce at: Facebook/Art Varley e-mail: roblesespanoles@icloud.com Text: 409.790.3973