Throwing Paint

 

Before I proceed to throwing paint, I go back to the photograph and the quick notan study to determine where I would like my darkest darks.

Now for the fun part! I enjoy accidents. I find there are more happy accidents when I use more than one gray so I arrange bottles within easy access. Two sets of grays and the original pure colours. Next, I select a brush and begin to fling paint at the surface, carefully aiming (without a lot of accuracy) at the areas I have chosen to be darker than the rest. I make sure the brush (usually a #10 round) is clean each time I change colours. Throwing paint heals the soul.

Once I have thrown sufficient paint at the panel I pick up my spray bottle and begin turning the canvas as I spray. The gobs of paint become drips and the drops turn into branches twisting into a mayhem of twigs and stems. Judging whether I add to the chaos, I may begin throwing paint again. Perhaps a third time will be necessary after it has dried. At this point, the pure colours are often the last ones.

Placing the canvas on the table I wait for the paint to form puddles. There are certain areas where I do not wish the paint to collect, in particular along the edges. Using a piece of paper towel, tissue or toilet paper I remove the excess water before it creates a visual problem.

I step back to get a distant look at the vague value shapes and decide to let it dry. Occasionally I return to check on edges and puddling in the wrong places. Once dry I place them at the end of the room to determine whether another throwing paint session is in order.

 

Colour Harmony

Beginnings of "Even the Rocks"

My world is gray these days. This is not an unhappy place to be. Rather, I enjoy the colour combinations complementary colours make. My goal, colour harmony.

Gather the ingredients 

For the past little while I have used a balanced mix of two in two different sets. Equal proportions produce lovely grays and blacks. No two combinations produce the same result. Exciting accidents happen with a little water spray. For a more exciting colour harmony I threw in a few drops of pure colour. 

We begin with blue

In pursuit of these accidents, I decided to widen the gray colour range. The texture, coloured gesso base and multi-layered individual colours remain as my awesome surfaces. Widening the range means finding more spice bottles and slanting the middle toward one complementary colour or the other. To widen the colour harmony further, I add a second combination in more spice bottles.

Now for red and green

Once three bottles are primed with GAC 100 and liquid medium (50-50), a little water (about ten percent) is added before pure colour is introduced. Now we have the middle gray of the original orange and blue with two more in the same range. Instead of equal proportions, more orange than blue goes into one jar and more blue than orange into the other. Now we have the original colours and the gray of equal proportions as well as two others to add to the mix. My other favorite combination is red and green.

Red and green make purple?

The reason behind this innovation came from my disappointment with the lack of separation on the canvas. When I first began using the gray mixtures, the colours were not quite blended and they separated into beautiful puddles after the spray and drying time. I wanted more happy accidents while still creating colour harmony.

All six grays 

Keeping to one colour combination tends to be somewhat limited so I continue to throw more than one at the canvas. Now instead of three combinations, I capitalise on nine, two sets of complementary colours and their original pure colour sources. Throwing paint is still an adventure. Spraying and turning the canvas to create trails of different colour is still exciting. One never knows how the colour harmony will exactly look in the end.  Next time we will explore the results of throwing colour at the canvas. Life is good.

Notan and Grid

 "Deep White/profondeur blanche" 40x40in 

Sometimes gazing at the pretty panels created with the multiple layers, I wonder if I should just stop there. Nah. The photo reference beckons.
So, I turn my attention to the question: why does this image inspire me? Often the movement catches my eye. The play of shapes, light and dark, create the movement. A notan study clears the clutter but first we need a grid to determine where the centre of interest lies.

Grids help poor photos

Far from perfect my photos challenge me to correct compositional errors. I use a one-inch grid system most of the time. Smaller photos require a half-inch grid. First, I decide the format. Is it square or rectangle? Sometimes that depends on what canvases I have available or on which series I happen to be working. A frame of two to three inches surrounds the grid to block out unwanted parts of the image. 

Another example

As I place the grid over the photo, I pay special attention to the rule of thirds. When divided into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, the lines cross in four locations. Any image supports four ideal positions for the centre of interest. Other considerations avoid positioning anything interesting in the centre of the photo and leaving the horizon along the centre line. Central positions tend to block movement of the eye around the work. Of course, any rule can be broken.

Finding the essential

Now we turn our attention to the larger shapes and the art of notan. Notan reduces the image to black and white. Most of the time a notan study can be done in a few seconds. Sometimes the exercise requires persistence. We do not want to spend too much energy here, so the sketches are small, about two by three inches. Essentially, we want a pleasing abstract, a variety of shapes moving together to create a flow with a dominant value, that is, more black than white or more white than black. I sometimes include a third medium value as well.

So much fun!

Once we have a workable format we move into throwing paint. Such fun. How I manage the colours, mixing grays and encouraging chaos is the subject of my next blog. Basically I aim the paint at the darkest areas that the grid and the notan have revealed. Until next time, have a wonderful month.

Layer After Layer

Magic

 A few weeks ago, molding paste took the centre stage as I discussed the beginnings of my neomosaic process. This foundation dries overnight. Proceeding to the next step we prepare containers of gel/gesso mixtures in the hopes that this layer will act as a binding agent to keep the various additional colours working together. (I wonder if dark matter is doing the same thing for the universe…)

Essential Ingredients

As I have mentioned before, I do enjoy creating accidents. Although there are satin gel mixtures on the market, I prefer mixing my base using a fifty-fifty mix of regular gel gloss and liquid gel matt. My intention aims for a fluidity somewhere between regular and liquid gel and a sheen somewhere between gloss and matt. Each mix holds its own surprises and forms the basis for subsequent layer work.

 

Three ready for gesso mix

Into another airtight container I add a second fifty-fifty mix of gesso and my gel mix. Now comes the fun part! Complimentary colours. I will go into the art of colour mixing in another blog when I widen the gray range. For now, let it suffice to say that my favorite combination is blue and orange. Putting too much pigment into the gesso mix creates a dark gray. At this stage of the game the layer should be light. So, I use three containers: dark, light and lightest which come in handy for refining the image at a much later time.

 

Magic mix

Once the layer of gesso mix dries, again over night, we begin applying thin layers of each complementary colour and a metallic.  Thin is good. Separate applications create lovely accidents. I fill some more airtight containers combining gel mix with some iridescence and a small amount of one pigment.  I repeat the process for the second colour. Each layer allows the other to show through eventually blending into a glowing surface.

 

Keeping my hands clean

In addition to the basic two hues, I begin with a layer of metallic, either gold or silver. A particularly beautiful combination is Phthalo Blue green shade with Quinacridone Burnt Orange and gold. Awesome! This layer ties in with the three circles I use at the end and determines whether I use gold or silver leaf.

Two very different panels

Since mixing the colours together to form grays kills the magic, I prefer to keep them pure and separate. I consider the photo inspiration to determine which of the two colours will dominate, cool or warm. The last layer applied reigns supreme. The highly textured surface catches the colours in various quantities and produces an exciting debut for the forthcoming masterpiece. 

 

Yes, well, perhaps. Life is full of surprises.

Molding Paste

Tools for creating neomosaic texture

Foundations mark the integrity of all work. Molding paste provides the underlying structure of my mixed media neomosaic. It forms the first layer on gessoed canvas. Following the Creator’s method, this layer begins with chaos. Although largely random, it also supports a lot of symbolism which I will explain as we move along.

Paste fling

Taking a good scoop out of the bucket of molding paste (four litre containers are my size of choice) I throw the gob onto the canvas. Two or three flings later I begin to cover the surface roughly using semi-circular movements to avoid symmetry in the patterns. The thickness of the layer of paste varies from very thin or non-existent to thicker, enough to hold some scrapes and impressions. Much like life, hills and valleys abound.

 

Random thickness

Carefully moving across the panel, I include the edges paying particular attention to the corners. The canvas folds disappear under the layer of paste becoming one with the rest of the prepared surface.

Special corners

Once the entire canvas is covered, I use the scraper to smooth out the higher lumps and bumps before I move in with the rest of my tools.

Smoothed and ready

Random is key. With the spatula I press the different patterned plastic onion bags into the molding paste. As I do, I think about how we try so hard to control our world. Onion bags contain their contents. Yet even the most perfect pattern has broken pieces. Once finished, I drop them into a container of water along with the spatula so they will not dry while I continue the mark making.

Dries overnight

Beginning again with long swirling strokes of a fine-tooth comb I destroy the previous attempts at control. Life’s unexpected happenings. Movement flows in between and through the existing patterns. Last, but not least, I use three different lids to create the circle marks, a bottle lid, a tube from an adding machine paper dispenser and a watercolour brush container. The size grows smaller with each passing. It is important to do the circles last as they tend to get lost in the other random marks. These form the symbols of hope in the chaos. The Holy Spirit permeates all, sustaining and healing all.

Looking good

No longer shiny, the molding paste has dried with the impressions of each tool evident on the canvas surface. Ready for the next step, we will add a gesso mix and thin layers of colour. The next topic in my neomosaic process.

 

Plan

 

"Presence/présence" 60x40in Neomosaic/mixedmedia on gallery wrap canvas

$4560

Welcome to 2025! Wishing everyone a very good year. I can still do that; it is only halfway through January. And to begin this year I have a plan for my blog. True, the best laid plans may turn to dust, but I have a plan anyway.

"Lazy Loops/passages paresseux" 36x30in Neomosaic/mixedmedia on gallery wrap canvas

$2052

Sometime last year the Redwater Art Society approached me to present a workshop: Techniques of Neomosaic. My style. As I looked over my notes I discovered a flaw. I embedded in the handout links to my blogs describing each stage of the process. Well, the blogs no longer exit. They died with my last website. So, my plan is to resurrect them.

 

"Source" 40x30in Neomosaic/mixedmedia on gallery wrap canvas

   $2280

Now the plan may need tweaking. After all, will my present website die too? I cannot foresee it. However, Blogger, the format with which I started in ancient days, is still around. Perhaps the best solution is to reinstate on both. I have time. I think. Until October.

   

Welcome to Redwater, Alberta

 

Indeed, the workshop happens at the end of October this year. Another plan keeps everyone informed as the date approaches. A lovely drive awaits if you join me there. In the meantime I have some writing to do. Enjoy the rest of Janurary.

Past

 Recently my husband asked me if I remembered when I first had a studio. He could not place when I really began this creative journey and neither could I. Delving into the past we stumbled around in the dark for a while.

 

Celebrating the past 39 years

Considering we just celebrated thirty-nine years of marriage, the stumbling is not especially surprising. In spite of the effort, a look at the past is valuable in that it can give us a new perspective. I tend to be quite negative about my accomplishments and what I feel I have yet to do. It has been quite a ride.

Constructing an easel

In the beginning I was very determined to be what I was told was a waste of time. I remember constructing an easel for myself shortly after I left my family of origin. I found giving myself permission to paint was an entirely different and more difficult task. The past can be a prison.

Painting the past

Once I met and married the love of my life, he encouraged me to re-enter the creative world. So I stepped into a few workshops and was told I ought to be teaching them rather than taking them. Gaining more confidence, I allowed a small corner table in a bedroom where I was more concerned about soiling the linens and the floor than about painting. Here I produced a vignette of my husband’s past and gave it to him as a present.

 

Photo (Empty Dreams/le vainqueur)

More teaching than painting

We moved to a different community in which I allowed myself a day off per week from running a household and taking care of our four children. In this place I took on a space, an old classroom in which I could paint and teach. I entered a few competitions with some of my past paintings and won some prizes. My creative space, however, remained more of a teaching venue than a studio.

 

Overwhelming past issues

Past issues overwhelmed me in our next town. Only another small corner in a rented room gave me the space where I could paint a little. I took on a small watercolour commission and taught a few community classes.

 

Moving past limitations

Ten years into our marriage and in a new province, I moved into the garage. Another ten years brought a rented space where I could paint murals. My own work began to grow from small studies to large canvases as I had discovered big! The past had less of a hold on me and I paid for everything with teaching and commissions. My personal production rate remained one or two paintings per year.

 

Mastermind

What kicked me into gear was my mastermind whom I met in 2010. They challenged me to move past my wounds and step into professionalism. Seven paintings in seven weeks. Thankfully, I had just stared planning my first series. Seven paintings in six weeks proved not to be impossible. Most of them were large pieces, 40x60”, 56x40”, 30x60” for example. I was flabbergasted. Although my desire had been to be a professional artist, I had never given myself permission to be.

 

Happy in a garage

I am still in a garage. As a result, I do not pay rent. I have regular hours with a display space and a workspace. My dream come true. Unlike past years, I do give myself permission to be and it is a wonderful place to begin a new year. Happy New Year everyone!