Back on the Job

Spent so much time last week on paperwork and printed images for an exhibition submission. If there were only two of me, the one who paints, and the one who does the secretarial work, that would be great. Although I don't actually dislike wearing that "other hat". I have chosen to do it over the years. No one is forcing me, and I take pleasure in how it all looks or how the wording reads. It's a presentation, after all, and I want it to represent me and my artwork the best it can.

So now I'm back to spending more time creating paintings. The one I'm posting here below is a mixed media acrylic painting. It began with a nondescript portrait I painted in 3 hours in the Independent Painters session with a model. I found the setup uninspired and uninspiring. After I let it sit for a couple of days, I thought I would get some special rice papers or other decorative papers from the art supply store, and I would just "play" with that portrait's surface.I spent perhaps an hour walking round the assortment of these beautiful paper surfaces displayed hanging over rods in the back of the store. With 3 of these in hand, and a roll of corrugation in my van that had made a home for itself there months ago, and which I had stopped noticing, it being there so long, I drove  home. I was thinking excitedly now! Couldn't wait to begin transforming my mediocre painting, hoping it could be salvaged. Then I cut some pieces of corrugated board which I had manicured to the right sizes and shapes, and adhered sections of those lovely papers to the canvas with a heavy acrylic gel, placing them strategically onto the painting. I was now liking it better, but all the elements didn't seem integrated. Back to work! Tonight I painted again on the piece, sometimes overlapping my brushtrokes across the papers. I wan't intent on creating a likeness of the model, although I had photos of her with me. But I did feel it needed the feeling that this is a real person, so on I trudged. I did a makeup and hair job on what I had previously painted, and made adjustments to the clothing. Below is the finished piece, signed! You can click on it to view it an enlarged size.