Beating the Clock

Fundraisers can be a lot of fun. I do work best under pressure. Perhaps beating the clock is a little too much pressure though. I was asked to perform in front of the attendees at a local school which was raising funds for their foundation. There is a tricky balance between what can be accomplished in two to three hours and what needs to be done before hand. How much do I do? How much do I leave undone? First things first, I selected a support. I am a stubborn… determined individual who is slowly learning how to hear what the still small voice each work or series of works has to say. The series “Eve” was completed before I was willing to let it go. The panel I selected already had several layers applied and I knew I would not return to the theme. All I had to do was seal the surface…. Not so. In my earlier experiments I had used drywall compound to texturize the surface, a very unstable substance, especially when being shipped from one place to another… So, first things first became scraping off the plaster along with all the other layers. Sealing, adding and allowing to dry six layers before adding the drips and drops of ink took several days. I decided to add the transfer images too, leaving them overnight to dry. Was that enough? We would soon find out. I got there early in order to set up. Lots of plastic sheeting everywhere to protect the floor, the table and I decided to work away from the walls. I am messy! Someone mentioned I had only two hours in which to work. Keeping one ear on the proceedings I decided when enough was enough about one minute before my painting went on the block. All very exciting. Life is good.