To paint or not to paint

I usually work on cradled panels or gallery wrapped canvases and don't frame. I like my work to look like objects and I want the eye to wander not to be constrained by a frame.  The edge of the support is very visible to  the viewer when the work is hung in the gallery.  The decision of what to do with the sides causes me more stress than actually painting the work!  I've researched this topic to see what other artists do. Opinion and options vary;  there is no rule when it comes to dealing with the edges of a canvas. It's a matter of personal preference. Here are some of the treatments I've used  depending on the piece...

 Paintthe edges in a color that was used in painting itself once the painting is completed ;
paint the edge at the same time your are doing your initial blocking in which will provide a harmonious edge .
 

Paint the edges black if the painting is  dominated by dark colors.

 

 

Paint the edges white,  cream or light gray if it is a light painting.

 

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Extend the painting around the edges. I can't say this is a favourite, but I did it several times.  There's something visually confusing about it.  

Tape off the edges while painting and remove the tape to show  the pristine canvas. I've only done this once and it looks very stark.  I know artists who consistently deal with the sides of gallery wrapped canvases this way.  

 
And finally , mix all the unused paint on the palette at the end of the painting and paint  the sides to harmonize beautifully. I've never done this, but I think it would work well. It's on my list to try. 

What would you do with the sides of these two paintings? They are part of a new series   using  encaustic monotype mounted on cradled panel with birch plywood sides.  Right now I've sealed the plywood sides.  Which looks good but all the grain has to be running consistently and my four sides vary.

 

If you use gallery wrapped canvas or cradled panels how do you treat the sides?  I'm hoping to get lots of opinions on this topic.  And I would really like to hear your thoughts on finishing the sides of the two works above.

Checking out galleries

 No I'm not looking for another gallery to carry my work.  I am however, looking at lots of art these days because my painting time is so frustrating right now with my eye condition.  I can look at images without difficulty and I'm doing at lot of it.   When I travel, I always pick up exhibition cards from galleries  and store them in  a giant box .  Sometimes they never get looked at again, but that is not the case this week.  I dumped out my box and chose a handful of cards with work that interested me.  One thing almost all the images had in common was they were abstract or non representational.

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Several of the cards came from one gallery  I visited  in Kelowna, BC last year.   Sopa Fine Arts carries an interesting range of artists and it is a lovely display space as you can see from the image above.    I was quite impressed because it was totally different from the kind of gallery I was expecting. Another big surprise was finding my summer neighbour's work on display in a joint exhibition.

So what did I like ?   There are so many I will have to write a number of posts to do the artists justice.  I'll start with Bill Gingles whose work has been floating around Pinterest over the last month. He lives in  the southern US.  I always find it fascinating to find an artist's work so far from home. Of his work he states that:

  "Each new painting reveals its own tendencies and surprises as it comes to life. Rather like children from the same parents, they are each at once individuals and siblings. It is because the life they share with each other is the life they drew from me."  

So from this intuitive approach his work is born.  His palette can be bold or subdued, but I noticed continuity in  his use of loops and swirls and luscious textures and subtle layers.  My personal favourites are his muted palettes where you really have to look to find the beckoning details of his work.  His use of a vertical grid with organic marks plays the structured against the organic thus creating interesting energy.  

 Sun Room, 48" x 36 " acrylic on canvas

Trading Books For Water 1, 30" x 24" acrylic on canvas

 

 Perfect Sinner 2,  60" x 48" acrylic on canvas

 

Rhapsody, 36" x 24" acrylic on canvas

Stay tuned for more artists over the next several weeks.  This is a great way to find out the elements of style that appeal to your aesthetic.  I've noted several aspects of Gingles work that I like, what are your thoughts? 

How big is big?

A fellow artist friend , Louise Sutton has been encouraging me to paint larger.  For her that means three or four feet, but larger for me means two feet.  There is something about staring at all that space that strikes fear in me.  I have produced larger work by combining smaller pieces but that's cheating.

Over the last several days there's something bubbling up in me that makes me want to go for it.  I've done a series of smaller pieces 4 x 6 in. that Louise thinks would make great fodder for a large work.   I think because I have figured out the composition etc before, that it would just be a matter of increasing the scale.  It will be interesting to see if that is really the case or will I have to make the work a lot more textured or layered to make it interesting.

 These are the pieces I'm considering using as inspiration.  I'm aiming for much looser and interpretive. Let's see how that works out.

If you have any tips for confronting and mastering painting large, please pass them on.

Creating texture in encaustic

One of my favourite attributes of encaustic is the ease with which you can create  surface textures.  I've been experimenting  using fabric and paper to create various effects.  Sometimes the exploration results in a completed work that I am proud of, and other times I end up with a sample board I use to illustrated points in encaustic workshops.

Starting with one piece of  patterned paper....

I began this piece with something totally different in mind as is often the way in art.  My interest in the patterns used in quilting and other hand crafts pervades my work in various ways.  This purchased paper in repetitive strips of patterns called to me.  I glued it on the panel with Yes Paste and added two coats of encaustic medium. It didn't inspire me in any way.  New road needed...  I began to cover up the patterns until only the white and black grid remained.

 

 That sparked me to find the scrap of tobacco netting a friend gave me and I was off to the races.

 

 Black and white #1, 2012, mixed media encaustic on cradled panel , 8 x 10 in.

 The grayish white area at the bottom and the black area at  top of the painting  was created with the netting and varying amounts of encaustic.  I let the white /black grid show through and then added the white squares using a stencil. 

Take one piece of white lace and ....

 
 attach it to the board using  black  encaustic.  Add several  more layers of  black  and then change to  red.  Fuse each layer.  When the pattern is completely covered with encaustic stop  and let cool.
Using a large blade scrape back to reveal the original pattern of the lace. A great sample board to show how to build up designs with fabric.you need two colours to show up the pattern.

Start with a very delicate paper..

Add layers of green encaustic and then blue and scrape away  to reveal the circular shapes with a blade.  The  raised grid is added using a stencil.

Ocean # 1 , 2012, encaustic and paper on cradled panel, 8 x 8 in.

In praise of red

Are you attracted to red in art work? I find it impossible to ignore  red in any kind of design.  It is even more attractive to me when used in abstract or non - representational work.  When a work has little or no recognizable content, we automatically  notice the element that has the most contrast. Red is bold and grabs attention.

All of the works below have a neutral palette (mostly grays and black) with a splash of red that creates an invigorating composition. You may already be familiar with some of these artists, but I hope you find at least one that is new to you.

 Mary Ann Wakeley | mawakeley - Variation on a Theme. On birch plywood, 30x30”

Fiona Watson,   Flight Paths. etching , 50 x 50 cm on 310 g Hahnemuhle paper

Judy Pfaff, ''Year of the Dog #6,'' 2009, woodblock, collage, painting, 39 7/8 x 87 1/8''.

 Günter Ludwig, “Traces”, mixed media

 Yves Cheval , Sans Titre.  Huile sur Bois 100x100 cm, Source

Yves Cheval, Sans Titre, Source

 

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miniprint 005  by Bea Mahan, Source

Odilon Redon

Revealed – 60″ x 36″ by Nancy Eckels, Source

This week I am taken with the work of Yves Cheval. There are lots of secrets revealed in his work when you have a closer look. I'm always pulled in to work with subtle layers.

Using bold mark making

It's interesting that artists are often attracted to work that does not look like their own in any way.  I've often thought about that and wonder what people would think if they saw a collection of all the art that I love.  There's absolutely no coherency in the lot.

I've started several collections of work on Pinterest and Tumblr  that I continue to  add to .  Lately I've been adding examples of works that have very strong mark making qualities and little colour.All the work approaches non- representational. The other characteristic that is evident is the various forms of layering used.  What are your thoughts about these works?


 Source: elizabethbunsen.tumblr.com via Designing Home/Margaret Ryall on Pinterest

Source: artthatfits.com via Designing Home/Margaret Ryall on Pinteres

Source: tumblr.com via Designing Home/Margaret Ryall on Pinteres

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Source: artpropelled.tumblr.com via Designing Home/Margaret Ryall on Pinterest

Acrylic pours with strappo

 It might seem my post topics are all over the place with me jumping from a new theme to technique, but rest assured it all fits together in my head.  Last Saturday I visited friends who were doing day 2 of a strappo workshop I took at Torbay Bight Studio last year.  I wrote about it here.  I never wrote part 2 as promised and I need to rectify that.  In addition,  I want to create new pieces using strappo so a refresher is in order.

 

 This is where I left off in the last post.  I had pulled the image off the glass plate and applied two coats of gesso and watercolour paper to it  in order to stabilize the image. See the white backing below.

 Then you sandwich this work between parchment paper and cover with a board and heavy object to let it dry. It  has to dry for several days to be sure all moisture is gone.

I'm now going to change images because I didn't do a pour on the landscape in the previous post.

 Tape around the edges of your cradled panel to protect the sides when you do the poor.

Put a layer of gesso on the surface of the support and on the back of the strappo piece. Sandwich the two together and  put under weights to dry. Make sure your strappo piece is at least as big as the support. Having a little hanging over the edge of the panel is ideal then you can trim it when the work is complete.

 

Getting ready to pour 

Golden Self Leveling Clear Gel

This product is great for a clear top pour because it is thick and easier to control than other products.  It has a high gloss sheen when dry.

 Put parchment paper, wax paper or refrigerator paper under the work to catch the drips.  It should have a slick surface to allow you to scrape up the drips and save to another bottle for  future use as an adhesive. in collage.  Returning it to the same bottle may cause problems  later ( it might have dried somewhat and shouldn't be mixed with fresh gel).

 For ease of application a squirt bottle works well.  Don't shake the bottle and transfer it several hours before you are ready to use it to prevent air bubbles.  This medium is thick and holds it place as you begin.

 Pour in a circular motion.

 When you get near the edge stop pouring and begin to tip the board to get  the gel to move to the edges.

 When the drips become too much, clean up with a palette knife and put back in another bottle.

 

 Wearing gloves helps to keep your hands clean.

 Check for level application.

 If you have an area near the edge where the gel is thin, apply more. Resist the urge to poke at it with a palette knife ( my specialty).

 Dealing with air bubbles

One of the solutions to air bubbles is to stick a pin in them. If you have a lot of bubbles you can try lifting the piece about 6 inches and letting it drop as you would a cake pan. You may think you have all the bubbles, but more can rise to the surface.  Check back in 15 - 20 minutes.  Another solution is to put isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle and mist the top of the gel while still wet. you can repeat this more than once.

It will take several days for your project to dry. 

Additional pouring tips

• use a level to to check your table.  If your table is off, your pour will not be evenly distributed.
• use a makeshift dome (paper, fabric or a large plastic container with air holes in the sides to keep dust and falling debris off the work surface
• If you have a lot of pieces or a large piece, make sure the room is properly vented.  Gels contain ammonia which  evaporates  as the piece dries.

Other Golden pouring mediums

GAC 800 -  works well when tinted with paint because it has a hazy surface when used alone

GAC 500-  thinnest levelling product that has little tack when dry; it is best used when creating poured  acrylic skins. 

Clear Tar Gel - by far the thickest pouring gel. It is best used if you want to pour lines on top of a work by dripping from a palette knife. You can thin it up to 1 part water and 3 parts gel.