Refining

Sometimes subtle adjustments are necessary in an art work if you want to set objects into the background. One of the best ways to do this is to glaze the areas in question.  When I glaze I sometimes use just water to dilute a colour and layer it several times drying between each.  Other times I use an acrylic glazing medium.   I have another trick that always works well for me. Because I use quite a bit of paper to layer my work, I choose very transparent papers and apply them over the areas that I want to set back.  The tricky part is figuring out exactly what colour will work best.  You have time to whip it off before the gloss medium dries.  I admit this is a well practiced solution for me.

This is an almost completed painting.  I've begun the glazing using papers in the bottom portion but the top is unaltered after applying the image transfers.  To see what happens as more glazing is added check below.   

The area around the centre received the most attention with paper glazing.  Before that rocks looked very similar in tone but it didn't take long to bring interest and variety to the area.  The whole painting received a glaze of transparent brown (one of my favourites) to finish it off (or so I thought).  I also released the rope from under the rock, but it just isn't working  because it looks like it's hovering.  So much for great ideas.  This one is going on the "needs further consideration wall" for now.

I planned to write a second post on mounting my strappo pieces but I seem to have filed my shots and I'm still playing detective to find them.  Stay tuned.

Busy, busy, busy

I had a productive weekend with encaustic which seems to be taking over my painting a little lately.  I managed to complete a piece to submit to the International Encaustic Artist Conference Juried Show this June.  I will wait to post the image as we get nearer to the show no matter how I make out with the submission.

I spent the rest of the time exploring textures and patterns  on  8x8 panels.Paper and fabrics were laid down initially and then various techniques were used to replicate ( with variations) the original patterns.  I'm interested in the subtle changes that happen in this layered process.  Although you can recognize both patterns when you compare them to the original, changes have occurred. As in my previous works, these subtle changes produced by the passage of time and actions that intervene  are my primary interest.  If you think nice patterns or textures, that's fine too. 

 paper modified

 lace modified

 wallpaper modified

 In previous posts I showed some of my earlier work on 4x4 here and 6x6 here.  I use small panels to create studies in encaustic.  I'm planning several larger works that are a mix of abstraction and realism (floral based), but  I'm not confident to dive in and fully execute them, so I explore my ideas in a safe environment. 

  I can't imagine messing up an 18 x 24 piece  full of encaustic- that's expensive stuff.   In all of these small works I'm  keeping a similar palette (obviously red) and then I can hang them grid style for a summer show I am in. Nothing gets wasted and I"m working out my strategies for background integration. I guess I will soon be ready to use some of what I've discovered in what I  consider my "real work".   The large pieces won't necessarily be red!  I'll soon be over my red phase.

Strappo

 In the midst of my ArtFix studio residency, I went outside my four walls to take a  workshop from my friend and fellow instructor Carol Bajen-Gahm at her Torbay Bight Studio. Usually I teach encaustic with Carol , but this time I was  learning the ins and outs of strappo. 

It was a fabulous two days and I created four pieces of work, some more successful than others. The strappo technique was new to me, but it will be one I'll definitely use in the future.   I would describe it as a combination of painting and printmaking which fits into the category of monotype except it is done with acrylics not oils.  Intrigued?  

The Process

 You begin with a sheet of clean  glass  the size determined by finished work dimensions. You can do  a conventional painting or a mixed media work. Straight painting is  the easiest to demonstrate/explain, so I will stick with that for my first post on this topic. As a result of my explorations I learned the following:

My Observations

- the glass should be free of any dirt or grease; a good cleaning is in order;

- the paint slides around on the glass and you can see the brushstrokes;
- the softer, smoother your brush, the better coverage you get;
- don't fight your natural application tendency (mine has a watercolour look);
- check periodically to see what the image looks like through the glass- this is how the finished print will look;  

 

 Louise Sutton checks out her progress.

- apply  one thin coat of paint, let dry and then reinforce with a second coat if you want solid coverage;
 

- work with the light coverage and add a second layer of another colour to make the image look "deeper"/more dimensional ;  (I used a blue green as my second backing  coat).  You could still see through sections of it after the second coat.  I decided to see what would happen in the end.

- if you dislike what you create, use a blade or the handle of your brush or thin slivers of wood to remove parts;

The original idea for frothy water against the rocks was a failure. You have to blend as you go because what dries in the first layer is what you get.  You don't have the option of laying in rough areas and refining by building up which is how I paint in acrylics.  I was ready to give up on this one when Louise said, "Scrape back". I broke up all the solid bits of white and changed the season to spring when we get a lot of lose ice in the harbour by my summer house.

This is more like it.

When your painting is dry apply two coats of acrylic gesso to the back of it to thicken the acrylic skin.  Let dry between each coat. 

The final step was to apply a  coat of gesso to the  back of the painting and to a sheet of printmaking paper or 90 lb. watercolour paper.  Put the paper( still wet) on top of the wet gesso on the painting and roll with a brayer. Put the sandwich under weights and let dry thoroughly. If you want to frame the work as a print make sure the paper you are attaching has enough border. 


When dry, (leave overnight) use a razor blade to trim the dried ooze from the gesso  and if you are going to mount the image on a cradled panel (my choice) then also cut off the excess paper that hangs over the edge. 

Use a wet Q-tip to moisten the corners and the top edge of the "sandwich".  Use a razor blade to gently loosen the top edge away from the glass.  Slowly begin to lift the acrylic skin from the glass using your fingers close to the glass rather than pulling higher up.  

In the pictures below I am almost at the end of the "pull".  This is often the part that can stick and pull away from the paper especially if the gesso has seeped into a crack and attaches itself to the glass. 

Almost there and it is stuck with gesso.  I had to get a blade to "persuade" it to separate .

 When you have a section that sticks you can correct the area with a mixture of paint and gloss gel.  I hate the long green line in the rocks lower right.  I'll have to doctor that up a bit.

Harold Garde developed/named this technique. I also discovered that the strappo technique was originally used to preserve frescos .  Check out this video.  I found it fascinating.

A strappo image has a surface that is unique in its tactile and visual qualities. This method expands the print makers choices. It has proven useful, adding to the range of techniques available for an artist's visual expression."

                           - Harold Garde

Next post:  Attaching to a cradled panel and an acrylic pour

Still working away

I've been very busy this week working on three pieces for an upcoming submission for a group show. I have't gotten around to finishing my last 6 x 6 "red piece".  I'm ready for the last layer of pigment stick glazing.

All week I've been looking at these two papers  that just ended up getting placed together.I've tried to come up with something I could use them for, but nothing came to me so now I've used the "bark" paper (not its correct name) in one of my new encaustics - and I don't have any left.  Now how did I come by that?  That seems to be my mantra since I started this "residency".  I guess it shows it's working because I'm using up materials, but should I be thinking about buying more?  Isn't that how we end up with so much stuff?  I hate having that feeling that I might need it sometime and won't have it.

Art Fix Residency Project #2

 For some reason which I can't understand right now, I'm going through a red phase.  This is my 6th red piece in the last several months.  I aiming for  nine pieces to be included in a summer show.  I'll keep creating and edit the selection down to 9 in the end.

Apart from red, encaustic  and texture seem to be the prevailing trends in my work this week.   I'm keeping the work small so I can complete it in one sitting rather than dragging it along for weeks because I have little spare time these days.

Growth (2011) 6 x 6 in.., encaustic, paper, pigment stick on cradled panel

My inspiration

I love this paper and I've used it in very interesting ways since I found it several years ago.  I'm on my last half sheet and for the life of me I have no idea where I bought it in my travels.  This always happens when you find something good.  I have a lovely collection of mark making tools for encaustic. Incising is one of my favourite activities in this medium.  Rubbing in pigment stick with burnt umber  is a great way to subtly highlight textured lines for a great organic look. 

Taking stock and first project

My ArtFix residency challenge has begun with a re-organization of aspects of my studio.  I found out that:

• I'm basically pretty organized and I don't collect a lot of found materials which is interesting because I love texture and layers in my work.  I may need to think about this.

• I have way too many books in my studio and reading often keeps me from producing.

 

Perhaps there's something here about using up materials.... You see how you can easily get sidetracked into something safe like researching. 

I am basically a self taught artist and books were my friends in the beginning of my art career.  I rarely buy a how- to book now.  I've been thinking about ways to "get rid of them".

•  I have scads of paper of every variety; I kept finding more and more.  It was rather startling when you attach a money value to it.

 Who knows when you might want to add a bit of shredded paper to something!  I've begun to save this to add it to encaustic - someday.

  Then there's all the photocopies I've done - just in case.  I use a variety of image transfer techniques in my mixed media work. 

 Every trip I take, I bring home at least one watercolour pad or pastel paper pad.  Never mind that I rarely work in watercolour or pastel anymore.

The bane of my life is my obsessive attraction to pretty, graphic, textured, gilt , glossy, fibrous, silky or any other kind of paper  you can think of. There are boxes of it now nicely organized thanks to this residency. 

 I've  kept every failed painting I ever created -even the ones from my early explorations into art.  You learn quickly that anything is fodder for a mixed media work.  

• I've tried every medium throughout my short career, but drawing materials are scarce.  While I'm attracted to graphic work, I rarely create it. Interesting and food for thought! 

 There's no shortage of things acrylic.

• For this residency I've decided to focus  on paper and graphic mark making materials - what I have the most and least of .  

Here's my first project using gilt papers, cadmium red encaustic and a gum arabic transfer(at the bottom).  6x6 inches. Keeping the scale small lets me get one completed in a day. I'm also going to be into speed in this residency.  No obsessing about worthiness just creation.

Me as subject

It's a very busy art week for me in all ways possible.  I am cleaning my studio, painting, taking a workshop  on Saturday, attending a friend's opening and reading about art.  A friend, artist  and fellow arts advocate Tina Dolter is opening an exhibition this weekend. 

In this series of figurative works Tina  

"takes on a universal theme that explores the feminine allure, the positive influence that maturity and life experience has on the perception of female attractiveness and the idea of the female as the centre of human sensual power.

The exhibition is comprised of a series of twelve full sized portraits of women from St. John’s, from varied and diverse backgrounds, all over forty, experiencing the most creative and dynamic time of their lives."

Check it out at Christina Parker Gallery ,you may see a familiar face!