Experiments

“The life so short, the craft so long to learn.” – Geoffrey Chaucer

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September 12, 2016

Circle Composition Four WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Four WIP, Sep 12, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 12, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Six WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Circle Composition Six WIP, Sep 12, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

I’ve added another layer to each of these pieces – all being a mix of Paynes Grey and cold wax medium. And these really are about layers. This is all about playing with the cold wax medium and transparency and I am trying not to get attached to anything along the way. The trick is going to be deciding when to stop.

Untitled WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Untitled WIP, Sep 12, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

When I looked at this one again, it seemed to have lost a lot of it’s brightness and I found it quite dull – so I decided to add a lighter colour and pull out the grid pattern a little more with a bit of Naples Yellow mixed with cold wax medium. And I dulled down a few areas with Paynes Grey mixed with cold wax medium. Looking at it beside last week’s version I’m not sure it’s an improvement. Too late now though. And I still don’t know which way is up (with the painting that is). I think today’s orientation emphasizes the cross that is emerging a little too much. I will try something else with it next week and see what happens.

 

“No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.” – Oscar Wilde

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September 6, 2016

Abstract oil painting
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Abstract oil painting
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Abstract oil painting
Circle Composition Five WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″
Abstract oil painting
Untitled WIP, Sep 4, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

This week I decided to play some more with cold wax medium and created a first layer on two 6″ canvases, and added a layer to another two 6″ canvases to repurpose them in a new direction. I don’t think any of these are finished though.

“The arts are not a way to make a living…”

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May 16, 2016

“The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake.”
– Kurt Vonnegut

A little more done on this one. I’m really not pleased with the placement of the white books – I will have to somehow improve the composition before I’ve finished.

Open Books, May 14, 2016, Oil and Wax on Birch Panel, 12″ X 16″
Open Books, May 14, 2016, Oil and Wax on Birch Panel, 12″ X 16″

“Writing about art is only useful when it leads to the experience of art.” – Darby Bannard

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February 8, 2016

Something a little different today. On December 31, my kids and I visited the Art Gallery of Alberta. One of the exhibitions was of the work of Chris Cran – my current favourite Alberta artist. After seeing some of his work with paintings of half-toned images, I thought I’d play a little. This is more of an experiment to see how the technique would work in preparation to play with these ideas more in future pieces.

Pink Stripes WIPA, Feb 7, 2016, Acrylic on Canvas, 6" X 6"
Pink Stripes WIPA, Feb 7, 2016, Acrylic on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

I started by painting the surface of a 6″ X 6″ canvas with flourescent pink acrylic paint and the edges with black gesso. Then I taped stripes onto the surface and covered it with a layer of acrylic gloss medium.

Pink Stripes WIPB, Feb 7, 2016, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, 6" X 6"
Pink Stripes WIPB, Feb 7, 2016, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

I proceeded to paint a half-toned image over the tape in oil paint. While the paint was still wet, I removed the tape.

Pink Stripes, Feb 7, 2016, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, 6" X 6"
Pink Stripes, Feb 7, 2016, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, 6″ X 6″

One of the questions that this experiment poses is, how much of an image do we have to have available to us in order to understand what we’re seeing? There is a lot of room for improvement with this. One of the biggest problems here is that my scale is all wrong. But it’s the first one. I will continue to play with this idea for a bit and see what I can come up with.