Halfway

Following one more critical assessment it is time to separate the sheets that I have painted and remove the first panel so the last one may be set in place and the drawing completed. Having had the experience of ripping pieces by accident in previous undertakings I move more cautiously carefully easing the edges apart. The acrylic paint makes a good glue. I had used a little sticky putty to hold the pieces together. Some of these had received a coat of paint too. Eventually I laid the first panel on the table and went about removing the residue before rolling it up. Stored until the installation day. It takes considerable patience to move and realign the drawing on each panel. I added more clips just to be sure my new arrangement would not move. As I attempted to install the last panel I saw that the grid did not allow for enough overlap, the eight inches are about right to accommodate the irregular edge once it has been cut. I took the panel down and laid it on the table with the intention of redrawing the grid. Once on the table I noticed that I had been lining the other panel up against the wrong marks. I had to laugh. Back up the ladder and the job was done. I stepped back to admire my work. Then it occurred to me. Another occasion for laughter. I had been so proud of my overlap solution. I had even thought of a way to avoid the underlay straight edge which will inevitably show up once the pieces are glued to the wall of the building. There was only one thing I had forgotten….there are horizontal cuts as well. There is no overlap on those…. I am sure there is a solution… there always is.

Slippage

This would not happen using four by eight foot sheets of plywood. I still prefer the fabric. The mural I am working on presently is too large for my support structure so I am doing it in sections. This takes a little planning. I have four of the five panels hanging at the moment. I have finished the gridding and established the center of the piece. I completed the logos and drew the separations from the center to the corners on the left side of the mural. I so did not accurately calculate the time it would take to draw. I had not considered the precision required to copy logos, establish correct proportions and perspective on buildings and the chain link fence. Oh yes, there is only so much leeway that one can get away with on these items. And I forgot about the lettering on the signs posted on the fence….. Sigh. I tried to get away with more than I could on the chain links. In the end dissatisfaction drove me to do better and I now have something with which I am pleased. Integrity is time consuming too. The moment had arrived: I was to cut the adjoining edges. I had decided to do an experiment. The sheets of fabric overlap for about eight inches. This gives me plenty of room to remove the straight line edge following the drawing in order to hide the join. I began to cut the first panel and realized that I had been very fortunate in that the two panels had remained in place during the drawing phase. I was careful to line up the next two panels before cutting while I still had an edge to line up. That is when I noticed the slippage. How am I going to fix this? Well, that remains to be seen. I know one thing: I am not redrawing the logo! Once I have the two and half panels painted I will remove the first panel, move everything over and add the last panel, beginning with the drawing again. I think I will add more clips this time….

Less Traveled

I am back at it again. Lacey patterns created with negative space in between the stems and leaves of the grasses. The hayfever got to me. I chose to sound a retreat and set up my painting station on a small desk in the  corner of my room at the retreat centre. It was sparce, the furnishings, but adequate. I had a bed, a desk and a sink with the window sill wide enough for storing small items like toothbrushes and cleaned paint brushes. I took another antihistamine and sat down. The hours passed quickly as I danced through each space dropping in various colours to create the variety so necessary in landscapes. Yet each negative space relates to another so they appear cohesive. I used a base colour of cobalt blue for the shadow areas and dropped in vermilion orange or burnt sienna, or cadmium yellow or yellow ochre and sometimes red. In the areas of sunlight I used a base of yellow ochre and reversed the process. It is fun watching the watercolour create the magic on the paper. With the en plein air paintings I do in watercolour I now use watercolour pencil to draw. Usually I select a colour complementary to the overall end result and since the forest is predominantly green my favorite drawing colour is red orange. It is in the drawing where I spend most of my time, that is, if I avoid the lacey. Lacey is time consuming and totally engaging. Once the drawing is complete I float base colours in a carefully painted area and drop in others on top watching the patterns form. Lots of fun.

Bastions

I am a rather outgoing, bubbly personality who, some say, likes to dominate the conversation… There were inferences taken when I told some friends that my husband had recommended to me a weeklong silent retreat in the foothills of Cochrane. I am thankful my husband and I usually understand each other and I took his suggestion to heart when I booked my week away last week. A week of silence sounded like just what I needed. It was just what I needed. I would recommend the very comfortable accommodations and grounds of Mount St. Frances Retreat Centre to anyone who wishes to reconnect, relax and reflect. The schedule of prayers, scripture meditation and meals gave some structure to the otherwise free time. I filled my hours with painting ‘en plein air’, reading, walking and just gazing out the window at the beautiful view. The property extends far enough so the invasion of dwellings will not interfere with the panorama of the distant mountains. The spruce and the Douglas fir, hundreds of feet tall, block the development to the north, some of which can be seen through the bastions of peace. My favorite refuge was along the trail in the woods. Some of the trail struggles between hedges of quack grass in bloom. Yes. I bought some more antihistamines and a box of tissues to complete my repertoire. Atchou!  

Primer

All beginnings look pretty much alike. I am working on my latest mural putting in the under layers. I hope to be finished by the end of this week. Of course, it would be delightful to be into the drawing as well. As always in the beginning, I am waiting for paint to dry. The humidity in the air and the coolness of the garage are two factors that are retarding that process. It might come as a surprise to some but there are other things to do in the meantime, like writing a blog! Getting back to the mural, I have decided to go with five strips of cloth eight feet long. Cloth, yes, I am painting on fabric. Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately the fabric is forty-six inches wide. My mural is eight feet by sixteen feet. It is better to have an overlap at the join of each section so once I have the layers of preliminary colour on the sheets I will arrange them on my temporary wall so that the overlap will be able to accommodate the cut. I am experimenting as usual. I intend to cut the fabric once I have the drawing done. That will allow me to paint the joins as if they are one. It will be easier to line them up and the overlap will be in place ahead of time. There are a few other challenges. My temporary wall was only six feet by thirteen feet. Within the space of my garage there is no room for a longer structure but it was possible to add two feet to the height. I decided to put it on my easels. I am so glad I did. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to move the wall to get into my storage unit since my son and I installed it. I love the person who invented castors.

Lac Bouchard

This is the second of two paintings done “en plein air”. I picked a wonderful evening. To begin with I wondered if I had left it too late. After all I set out at the nth hour of seven or as my husband prefers nineteen hundred hours. The sun sets at about nine thirty  these days and it takes around an hour to get to where I was going. The other thing that bothered me was that I really did not know where I was headed. I remembered the general vicinity, a beautiful spot the children and I had discovered on a Sunday afternoon drive. I could not remember the name of the lake. I began making up excuses for not going such as I do not have the “right” equipment. Truly the task would be easier if I had a proper lightweight, ‘en plein air’ easel. Sigh. Choose and move. I set off with my cardboard box full of prepared panels, my less that efficient fold up easel, my oil paint box and a bucket with the extra things like a bottle of mineral spirits and rags in it. As I drove I passed the point where I thought the turnoff should be, again excuses bubbled up. “You missed it. Maybe you should just go home.” Of course being the stubborn… determined individual I am I continued down the road. I decided to relax and enjoy the ride. I turned off the road when the sign indicated Lac Bouchard Lake. I did remember that the trail continued out onto a sandy spit so I did not stop at the upper campsite and ventured as far as the spot where the four by fours evidently had trouble getting in and out. OK. I have a 1995 Neon. Not the same thing. I would walk from here. Being present opens a world of wonder. I was serenaded by a lovely chorus of frogs to the south and  a  profusion of birds all around. The light softened into liquid gold. Awestruck I almost forgot to paint.

Multitasking

So what do I do between things? Well, today I washed cars… I also put the finishing touches on the two new ‘Eves’ that will be on display this month at Roche’s Fine Things. There is a mural in the background on the photo. I did some rearranging on that one too… There is another mural on the way. One of these days I will go into town to purchase the fabric for it. Ooooh, I love this new technique. So easy to transport and a lot lighter than 4 x 8 sheets of half inch plywood. The fact is that I need to multitask. If I complete all my projects at once I am left standing in the middle of the floor wondering what to do, immobile. Stuck. I do not like that feeling. It is not likely to occur though. I plan to start several different projects besides the mural in the not too distant future. There is a series of black and white drawings I wish to have done by the end of October. The plein air studies will be complete by the end of September. Ten of each. Then there is the new series entitled “Pilgrims” and the other one that is a secret…. I can hardly wait to begin that one. This is one secret I do not mind keeping!