Failure = Success

I have already confessed to being overly fond of things that sparkle, glint or shine. So it was a given I would just have to try printing images on foil. Besides, it's pretty easy to do and ever so affordable. I use generic aluminum foil from the grocery store and coat it with Golden's Digital Ground Clear (Gloss). Cut it to fit on a piece of computer paper, taping it on two sides with blue painter's tape. Most important is taping the leading edge, keeping everything as smooth as possible. Less critical is the taping of one of the long sides. Now I'd like to say- just pop it into the printer and click on print, but there is this moment of sanity when you ask yourself why you're putting this in your new printer while remembering just how much it cost. So it was with sweaty palms and whispered prayer that I gently placed my prepped foil into the feed slot. I stood there listening to the most frightening crunching, crinkling sounds, but out it came in fine shape. I actually did five that day. One hung up at the very end without damaging the image, one had a skip in an interesting place, two were perfect and the last one, well...was a minor disaster. It hung up at the beginning and was munched up by the printer. It was the last one and by then I had relaxed and exhaled. My super duper printer disengages when you cut the power and has doors to reach through and lift out whatever gets stuck. I reprinted that image and it, too, was perfect. The images have a tin type look to them, but in full color.

The mad scientist in me started looking around for other applications for my new found skill set. I've been working on a piece that has a tulip as it's focal point, but it is actually about the great tulip investment bubble. In my research I stumbled across a painting done at the time, FLORA. (Note the two faced woman on the right.) Since the image was in public domain, I downloaded and sized the image to suit my composition. I had prepared and fixed it making it ready to be incorporated into my painting. But first I thought I'd use a rubber stamp buttered with acrylic paint over top of it. When I lifted the stamp it pulled away part of the image. Oh how I fussed. I felt like a child whose lollipop had just been snatched out of her sticky fingers. About an hour later, when the wailing and gnashing of teeth abated, I realized that if I had glued it to the painting and then it failed that would be far worse. Decided to go to the coffee shop. On the way out the door, I grabbed my journal and a folder full of Golden product information. While sipping my consolation latte, I found that I needed to use a spray varnish to fix the image and not the workable fix that I had used. Alleluia!!! Okay, this will work for me! I kept reading and saw another technique... baked skins.( Future post ) Needless to say I'm seeing yet more opportunities. All of which should be tested out before affixing to anything. Although it started out being a disaster it ended up being like Christmas.

One is silver and the other gold

A lifetime ago when I was a Brownie Scout we would form a circle at the end of each meeting and sing the following song. "Make new friends, but keep the old. For one is silver and the other gold." Being only seven or eight years old I found the lyrics puzzling. I asked my mother if it meant one group of friends was better than the others? On the contrary, she said it meant that both our old friends and our new friends were equally precious. It still seems that when someone or something new comes into my life I can be dazzled and distracted from all that's come before. I rather think it's a momentary illusion and soon things sift down into a harmonious perspective of celebrating the new while valueing the old.

I have been painting in acrylics since about 1975. In that time I have probably used every product labeled "acrylic". The mainstay of my studio has long been Liquitex which comes in two formulas. The tube formula has a creamy peanut butter consistency. The soft body formula comes in plastic bottles and has a heavy cream consistency. Both stand up well to being thinned with water, retaining its durability. I also love the wealth of information that's easily discernible on the label. Not only is it user friendly but it has proven its long term durability to me, which is no small thing. Until recently there were these great debates over the permanence of acrylics as a fine art medium.

In 2006, I was a participating artist with the OFF THE WALL project. Artists painted themed art on banners that were displayed on lamp posts in the gallery district. The banners provided were much like vinyl window shades with a rod pocket at the top and another on the bottom. They would be installed in November and stay up through the harshest of the Winter weather. I cringed.(Part 1 of 3)

One is silver...(continued)

You see if there is one thing that acrylic painters are warned about, it is cold. It seems acrylics can become brittle. I emailed Liquitex for their input. Their representative reiterated the extreme cold concerns and cautioned against the flexible support that would surely exasperate the problem. I had only one choice. Throw caution to the wind and go for it. I lightly sanded the soft vinyl to give it a bit of tooth and then primed it with Liquitex gesso. I used Gloss Medium along with water to thin the paints since I was doing sheer layers of transparent colors. I went several times that winter to see how the banner was fairing. It was just fine, however other banners began to crack and peel over time. The banner went on to another venue after that. It has survived vertualy unscathed. It's experiences like that one that insure brand loyalty. (Part 2 of 3)

...and the other gold (continued)

No matter how loyal a customer you are, when you go through as much paint as I do, you tend to pick up a tube of this and a jar or bottle of that. The beauty is that they are all compatible and they tend to "keep" well, especially if you remember to put their lids back on immediately. The only thing that was getting stale was this artist which is why I decided to attend the Golden acrylics workshop in the first place. ( Golden Opportunity ) I can't speak for anyone else but I am easily distracted by shiny objects. And there I was playing with paint that sparkled and shown. Soon found myself in an interference induced coma. Up until now Liquitex had been my meat and potatoes and here I was faced with Quinacridone Crimson cherries jubilee- flaming! I'll be honest, the Golden line is sexy. From the descriptive names and variety grounds to the digitalizing liquids, Golden whispered in my artist's ear of techniques yet to be explored.

I know the feel of Liquitex in my brush the way I know the likes and dislikes of my best friend. Golden has a different feel, especially the Open series. I would think oil painters in particular must like this. I noticed that with watering a color to the extreme Golden is more fragile a bond than what I'm use to with Liquitex. ( I know, you're not supposed to do that but I'm spoiled.) During the workshop an artist expressed her dilemma over not being able to purchase a particular color anymore. This worried me. I fear getting too fond of a color and in the future being told it's no longer available. All this said, Golden makes a gorgeous and exciting line. One that is refreshing a veteran painter's horizons. With Liquitex and Golden I join another circle and dream of the possibilities of what is yet to be. Make new friends, but keep the old. For one is silver and the other gold. (Part 3 of 3)

The Deathless Masterpiece

I first heard the term "deathless masterpiece" as an art student. In fact the instructor who introduced the term to us, would routinely say that what we were working on wasn't a deathless masterpiece. He was giving us permission to lighten up. There we were with our little fledgling artistic egos trying, ever so hard, to impress. What we really were there to learn was how long we were going to be bad at what we were doing. We had yet to make our mistakes so we could learn from them. It's the only way to make a technique or media your own.

For the past three years I've been working in pastels. Edged out of my studio by renovations, I'd hit the road with my field kit. At this point when I pick up a certain color, I know before it touches the surface of the paper what I can make it do. Each media is like a language. To become fluent, you have to immerse yourself in it, sound funny, be giggled at & corrected. But there comes the day that you converse & express yourself gracefully. Before pastels, I was working in acrylic and before that watercolors. There was a point at which I was floating watercolor in acrylic gloss medium and glazing over acrylic in paintings. Although it's probably apt to be fugitive, the technique does give an "old Masters'" glow to a sunset. One day a reporter came to my studio to interview me and noticed reference photos on my drawing board. She kept looking over at them and then asked who took them. This seemed like a trick question, too easy- I did. She commented that they were good. I knew that, but that was the last thing I needed- another media!

It was with great trepidation that I went to the Golden Workshop. (Golden Opportunity 3/23/09) Coming out of the workshop I thought, well that was fun but none of this fits with what I'm doing now. There was this one sample board..., and I just wanted to see what I could do with it..., and well yes..., I was off to the races. (Mixed Media Merriment 4/6/09) I was placing my order for dimensional paste, crackle medium and digital ground. Suddenly I was creating texture to be glazed with acrylics and overlaying them with pastel to enhance every ridge and bump. Like a mad scientist, I made acrylic skin and fed it through my ink jet printer. Those images are then collaged into the piece. I am miles from my comfort zone. This is the dark side of the moon. I keep thinking as I work, next time I'll do this or that differently. There is no image with this post because I haven't produced the "deathless masterpiece". I have to be bad at this for awhile, but sometimes it's good to be bad.

Plein Air Season

I am packing my supplies to go plein air painting tomorrow. It will be "opening day" for the season. Artists from all over the region will converge on a particularly beautiful site. Like bears leaving our winter dens we blink at the sunlight and sniff the air. Plein air is a multi-sensory situation. It is also a very social exercise for artists that spend most of their working life in isolation. We will be at the same place where I did "Summer Residents" which is a pastel painting. That day I was working alone... or at least I thought I was alone. Several geese came up on the bank and stood around me as I painted. I found it amusing how close they came to me and how still they were as if to not disturb my work. The ducks on the other hand were a study in frenetic activity. The geese slyly showed their disapproval of the unruly neighbors. This is how we spent a lovely Summer's afternoon together, my feathered friends and I. You see that's the thing about working plein air. There's always a story that goes with the image.

May Flowers

Rain and flowers just seem to go together just as wonder and enchantment does. This acrylic painting began one rainy Spring day when my oldest daughter was seven. She loved walking in the rain and picking wild violets that dotted the lawn. As she climbed the steps a look swept over her face. It spoke of childhood whimsie and enchantment. I knew that one day I would paint this scene. "Phoebe and the Rainy Day Violets" is dedicated to all of us that have retained some part of the wonder of childhood. Those of us who know that somewhere out there, under a leaf, lies a treasure if only we look for it.