Post 2

Not too early, not too late, I start my painting process in the morning. After a few tasks that could interrupt my time in studio have been dealt with, I start to think about painting process. I usually look through some social media sites, like Youtube or Instagram, which I only use for image stimulation. I'll watch someone else paint, or talk about color, or I'll look at images for inspiration. Then when I can't wait to paint any longer, I go to my materials. I'll put on my grey shirt and then when I'm at my table, my apron. This is my uniform. I usually have pre-filled my water cup the session before, but if not that comes first. As I'm doing this I'm peeking at my work on the wall. Did I change how I feel about it overnight? Is it still satisfying? What is missing? I try to see it in not-direct looks, through sideglances.

I start with cradled wood panels. These are my studies. My rules are that the studies are for exploration and experimentation. No judgement allowed in working on panels. They are for fun and cannot be done wrong. If I'm feeling like making a major change, I'm allowed to. I may refine a composition or obliterate it. These panels are for me, they are not to be finished or even considered artworks, they are freedom. When I have worked on 2 or 3 panels or I've seen something out of the corner of my eye that has to be done on a large canvas, I move to a large canvas. This is my process.

Will this process hold up in my new series exploration? I had begun to paint on canvas pulled from the framework, then on unprimed canvas. I've just now begun to work on linen, unprimed and unstretched as well, with some unconstructed painted forms, as well as structural stiffened fabric. When I've found a new idea for presenting a form, it usually starts with a material challenge or idea. Working on linen is new for me and this low paint/ no primer approach is new as well. I wanted a low relief effect on the linen and I'm currently experimenting with different media that will hold the fabric. Acrylic medium doesnt Thold so well and fasteners that hold the fabric end up glued to the piece. The visual image is made with ground charcoal and acrylic medium and I've added some color with a staining technique. The low relief effect seems to be best achieved with fabric glue on the back of the linen, held with small clothes pins until dried. My intention with the edges of the pieces are to let the shape be determined by the relief work. My questions at this point are how much color will come into the work and how will these pieces be hung. I have learned that a painting removed from a conventional stretcher becomes a new thing and all aspects of the work are considered part of the piece, like the light moving across the work and the unfinished edges, for example.