Acrylic vs. Oils

I enjoy taking risks when I paint as long as the risks I am taking have the potential of making something wonderful happen. When painting with watercolor, when less than wonderful things happen there are multiple options to take while still moving forward. Even after the layers of splats, splatters, flicks and careful brush strokes result in absolutely no life emerging from the paper, I can wash the whole thing off and start again with a beautifully patterned paper rather than a stark white piece of paper.

Oil paints also allow me to venture into the unexplored territory of techniques. The only limitation I am forced to accept is that I can't pour and splatter them the way I can watercolor and acrylic. Acrylic paint has never been a favorite of mine. It dries too fast. I thought, after having discovered that I can mix my own fluid acrylics and splatter/splash them the way I do watercolor, that acrylic might join the ranks of mediums I adore. It has its place in my work, but I don't adore it. After yesterday's painting session, glazing over both oil underpaintings and acrylic underpaintings, I decided to continue all of the glazes in oil and not shift over to acrylic in July.

Several months ago I attended an acrylic workshop. I was the only artist in attendance who still painted in oils. I was asked why in the world I would do such a thing. Why? Because I love the smell, the feel, the way color can be mixed on the palette and on the canvas, blending (or not) to my heart's content. I don't care about all the nifty things you can do with the acrylic mediums that turn a painting into a stained glass decal that will stick to my window or turn my canvas into a three dimensional topographical map. In spite of the negative attitude I have toward acrylic paints, I have found ways to use them that have inspired new directions that I will follow. My mind and heart are open to a better relationship with these speedy dry paints. However, no matter how much retarder I use, they do not please me the way oil paints do.

The "Between Here and There" series will be part of my solo exhibition Unveiled - The Anatomy of a Painting at Monsoon Gallery in October, 2008. If I were to follow my original plan of switching to acrylics for the glazes I would find myself manufacturing paintings rather than creating them and I would not be able to smile or carry on an honest conversation about the paintings at the opening. Instead of dreading the hours of struggling with quick drying acrylics I look forward to applying each and every layer in oils.

Exhilarating Fun

I began today's painting session with both excitement and apprehension. As I squeezed paint onto my old RCA Television Glass Pallette (saved from my family's first television in the 50's) I reminded myself that the results of first time efforts are often less than visually pleasing. This was my first experience applying thin glazes over a complimentary underpainting. The last thing I expected was to have so much fun, starting with the first brush stroke.

I'm curious as to how these new paintings that require months of alternating drying periods with glazing will influence my pleine air work. I will continue to post photos of the paintings as they evolve.

Already, I am seeing colors differently as I drive along our country roads, the light flickering between the tree branches of the dense wooded hills.

Automatic Blog Updates

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Paying for Representation

How valid is a list of galleries that represent an artist's work when the artist pays for the representation? How hard does the gallery work to represent that artist and to sell the artist's work if the gallery has already made a profit from the artist paying them to be a part of an exhibition or a special event?

Every week I receive at least one invitation from a gallery in New York or London or somewhere else in this ever-shrinking world. A lovely message telling me that they discovered my web site and feel that my work would fit well in their gallery or their upcoming show. For a small fee (anywhere from $600 - $3000) they would be happy to include my work in their show and "possibly" represent my work in the future.

After a letting out my fury I respond as kindly as I can letting them know that I don't pay for my representation. If they are interested in my work without the required fee, I will be happy to discuss possibilities with them. If the gallery feels that they can sell my work, they will make their money off of the sales, not off of my investing in them.

Urrrrggghhhhhhh!

Limited Supplies

The hot, sticky night left me short of time this morning, my body feeling sluggish and unmotivated to spring out of bed, refresh myself in the shower and dash down the road to the studio to pick up my painting supplies for this morning's yoga class. Instead, I grabbed a small tin of paints, a handful of tiny scraps of watercolor paper, a couple of brushes, a few paper towels and a plastic cup for water.

Hot nights generally result in low attendance to the early morning class. Quite a few of the regulars didn't show up. A perfect situation to step out of the "norm".

I found myself in a different state of mind, tuning into the space around the figure and allowing it to merge with the figure, blurring the boundaries of inner and outer energy. As I look at the resulting paintings, poetry comes to mind.