Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Prep, Process and Problem Solving

our garage workshop with all three cut panels glued, sanded and ready to go.

The doors arrived to my supplier the day before thanksgiving. A huge sigh of relief. Next step was to cut them down to size, and fill and sand the exposed ends (picture below).

this is what the doors look like when cut open.
the wood filler needed to be stripped to the correct thickness, and cut to size.

Now in the studio, my images are adhered to the panels. Although my canon printer can print up to 50 yards long, it maxes out at 17 inches wide, so I've had to splice the paper sheets together. I'm not sure if it's a result of the cold weather we're having here in Seattle, but the paper seems to be moving as the glue drys on the wood, leaving a small gap along the length of the splice. I've filled the gaps with R&F Encaustic gesso, and then tinted the gesso with guoache to get closer to the correct color.

detail showing the gap in the spliced image

It takes a bit more work to make the line disappear once I start painting, but with enough paint and wax and texture, it all comes together in the end.

The first board is on the waxing table. In this photo, I still need to trim the paper flush to the edges of the panel. And I'd better clean up the work area before I make an even larger mess of things. In the upper right corner of the photo, you can see a smaller scale photoencaustic painting I did as practice for getting the colors right before embarking on the finals.

Check back next week for the next progress report.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Daffodils and Snow in Seattle

It's freezing here in the studio, so working on bright, sunny daffodils bring memories of warmer and more colorful days. The image above is the approved concept thumbnail for a triptych commissioned for a new hospital here in Washington state. The three panels will total 30" tall x 104" wide. Delivery is mid-January.

The client requested deeper panels than the standard 1.25 inch hollow core doors that I typically use for my work. As soon as I received written authorization to proceed with the project, I placed a special order for 1.75" hollow core birch slabs with my supplier, Millwork Supply, in Seattle. Estimated delivery is 4-weeks. The doors come from Canada (I think). It's been over 6-weeks out now, and still no doors. I'm keeping calm for now, but if I don't start waxing by December 1, it will be a struggle to complete these in time.

I'll try to keep you posted on how things progress. When the doors arrive, they will need to be sawed down to size, and edges filled. This process typically takes about 3-days, depending on availability of my husband to help with the manual labor.

Have a great thanksgiving.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Spring in November

"Unleashed" 36 x 42 oil and photoencaustic

"Tewzday" 24 x 39 oil and photoencaustic


"in a dawn" 24 x 24, oil and photoencaustic

It may be cold and stormy outside, but it still feels like spring in the studio. My goal is to paint at least four new works a month until my April solo show at Patricia Rovzar Gallery. In addition, I have a large (30 x 100) commission to complete by mid-January. The activity will keep me warm!