in general
heritage series
26/06/08 09:05
For the most part, this is been an incredible week.
Things have been very active in the studio as I’m
experimenting with news techniques. One of the other
events has been making videos for “You Tube”. These
videos are done on the fly, with no script, and very
little preparation. I am finding it very enlightening
and it also helps satisfy the need to teach.
There have been several new influences in my life, at least as far as the artwork goes, that have been making changes in the way I approach the canvas. As you know, Gary Reef out of Norway has been a rather interesting influence overall. But along the way I happened upon another artist with a screen name of pagan artist, who seems to have an insight into the artwork that I sometimes feel I’m lacking. It’s certainly been interesting to watch his videos and just be the Observer. Along with all of this the family photographs have come back to haunt me to a degree. It is creating some basic changes in the way I’m doing my artwork. It will be most intriguing to see where this leads. At the moment, I just don’t know.
So, so far I have done three videos and then working on number four. The first two involve how I make acrylic transfers. It took two videos to cover this process because of limitations in time. The third video is still under construction, but should be posted sometime this afternoon if all goes well. The fourth video which is on how to use isopropyl alcohol in acrylic painting. That one went up yesterday and not only will wasn’t good for me to do it I learned a great deal in the process as well. I was find it amazing how teaching enlightens me almost more than it does the students period I always find that after a teaching session I’ve grown as an artist. Probably one of the reasons I like teaching at the Ringling.
Still working on my teaching schedule, hopefully something will come of the fall session but nothing is guaranteed at this point. The Ringling seems to be happy with my work and I just recently signed an agreement with Art Center Sarasota to teach a class they’re starting in January. It’s a bit early to expect a contract from Ringling yet but I think all is well in the front.
On the gallery scene it would appear my contract with a local gallery is being extended another year. This will make my ninth year at this gallery, also make them be one of the longest contract artists in the gallery. My feeling is that if it works why should we bother to fix it. The gallery’s been so kind to me over the years, and so patient that it’s nice to see sales coming around. I sold more paintings and one month at this gallery then I’ve been able to sell sometimes in a six-month period. Even in my darkest hours, I realize that my life has truly been blessed. Something that is so easily forgotten, but the universe quite frequently reminds me.
Blessed be!
AWith the recent visit of my uncle, I received a series of photographs of the family. On that side of the family they were immigrants from Sweden. My great-grandfather arrived here at the age of 17 on September 20, 1897. I am supposed to be receiving a copy of the immigration papers. He somehow ended up in northeast Pennsylvania where he married a Samson. The Samson family farm had been in the family for many generations at that point. And they continued to do so for many more.
Recently I met a young artist via “you tube” named Gary Reeef. He is a young man from Australia now living in Norway. You can find his link on my links page. He is a bright young man, very innovative, and his work is quite delightful. I think to some degree it’s important. Watching how he uses stencils helped me to became aware how this can be used in my work. This along with some other techniques that Gary uses have become part of my arsenal.
I checked with one of the major paint manufacturers and have incorporated the ones that are least damaging to the paint, as I use predominantly acrylic paints. So the whole idea of stencils is becoming part of my work. For a couple weeks now I have been hand cutting stencils I recently started using a stencil cutter and a simple stencil of nothing but dots would take me an hour and a half. I remembered having an electric stencil cutter which is nothing more than a small heating element, and spent a bit of time searching that out. That has taken the process of cutting the same stencil from 1 1/2 hours down to about seven minutes. A nice game time.
One of the images I’ve become quite taken with Is of my great great grandfather at the age of 17. It was a photograph taken shortly after he arrived in this country from Sweden. So after a bit of manipulation and Photoshop I came up with a three-step grayscale image which had been made into a decal. Okay, I can hear you asking what does that have to do with a stencil. Well, it’s the first step. I wanted a quick way to be able to try out this idea and see where it could go. The result is a new small piece which is the first in the heritage series. It is in the same format that I have been using for about two years now on a piece of 8 x 8 multimedia art board, this time in black, with a base of dots made with molding paste. Then using some of Gary’s techniques I applied several layers of color including a nice rich golden yellow and a brilliant red. allowing that to dry thoroughly then went back in for some more color to add to the detail. I then printed at the decal of my great-grandfather split down the middle and placed it on the left edge of the board. I then applied a layer of acrylic gel medium to tie everything into place. At this point I allowed it to dry overnight.
The next day I added a piece of rice paper which had been cut, moistened, crumpled, and glued in place with a matte medium. After it was allowed to dry I then went back in with water and a bit of acrylic ink to add depth and color. After that it dried and then quickly scumbled a gold metallic overtop. I also added a bit of a acrylic casting that I had in the studio.
Knowing that the Swedish heritage was important I then went on search for either a Swedish stamp, coin or bill. in time I found a image of a Swedish kronor which I was able to turn into a transparency. The transparencies have been doing are done with gel medium on glass and using a laser copy of whatever image I’m using becomes embedded into the acrylic medium. It is allowed to dry for most of the day, and then the paper is moistened and carefully scrubbed away. What you’re left with is an acrylic medium skin but the image embedded in the surface. When done properly it is very transparent. In this case the delicacy of the kronor made for an almost phantom type image. Perfect for my needs. So once that was allowed to dry I carefully removed it from the glass and then applied to the surface of the current image with more clear gloss medium. It was then allowed to dry overnight. I then used an acrylic ink marker and added the date, September 20, 1897 onto the image. I then applied some of the new holographic gel medium judiciously in areas of the original circles and I think it’s almost done and so goes the first of the heritage series.
Gary, thanks bud, I wish I had something to offer in return!
There have been several new influences in my life, at least as far as the artwork goes, that have been making changes in the way I approach the canvas. As you know, Gary Reef out of Norway has been a rather interesting influence overall. But along the way I happened upon another artist with a screen name of pagan artist, who seems to have an insight into the artwork that I sometimes feel I’m lacking. It’s certainly been interesting to watch his videos and just be the Observer. Along with all of this the family photographs have come back to haunt me to a degree. It is creating some basic changes in the way I’m doing my artwork. It will be most intriguing to see where this leads. At the moment, I just don’t know.
So, so far I have done three videos and then working on number four. The first two involve how I make acrylic transfers. It took two videos to cover this process because of limitations in time. The third video is still under construction, but should be posted sometime this afternoon if all goes well. The fourth video which is on how to use isopropyl alcohol in acrylic painting. That one went up yesterday and not only will wasn’t good for me to do it I learned a great deal in the process as well. I was find it amazing how teaching enlightens me almost more than it does the students period I always find that after a teaching session I’ve grown as an artist. Probably one of the reasons I like teaching at the Ringling.
Still working on my teaching schedule, hopefully something will come of the fall session but nothing is guaranteed at this point. The Ringling seems to be happy with my work and I just recently signed an agreement with Art Center Sarasota to teach a class they’re starting in January. It’s a bit early to expect a contract from Ringling yet but I think all is well in the front.
On the gallery scene it would appear my contract with a local gallery is being extended another year. This will make my ninth year at this gallery, also make them be one of the longest contract artists in the gallery. My feeling is that if it works why should we bother to fix it. The gallery’s been so kind to me over the years, and so patient that it’s nice to see sales coming around. I sold more paintings and one month at this gallery then I’ve been able to sell sometimes in a six-month period. Even in my darkest hours, I realize that my life has truly been blessed. Something that is so easily forgotten, but the universe quite frequently reminds me.
Blessed be!
AWith the recent visit of my uncle, I received a series of photographs of the family. On that side of the family they were immigrants from Sweden. My great-grandfather arrived here at the age of 17 on September 20, 1897. I am supposed to be receiving a copy of the immigration papers. He somehow ended up in northeast Pennsylvania where he married a Samson. The Samson family farm had been in the family for many generations at that point. And they continued to do so for many more.
Recently I met a young artist via “you tube” named Gary Reeef. He is a young man from Australia now living in Norway. You can find his link on my links page. He is a bright young man, very innovative, and his work is quite delightful. I think to some degree it’s important. Watching how he uses stencils helped me to became aware how this can be used in my work. This along with some other techniques that Gary uses have become part of my arsenal.
I checked with one of the major paint manufacturers and have incorporated the ones that are least damaging to the paint, as I use predominantly acrylic paints. So the whole idea of stencils is becoming part of my work. For a couple weeks now I have been hand cutting stencils I recently started using a stencil cutter and a simple stencil of nothing but dots would take me an hour and a half. I remembered having an electric stencil cutter which is nothing more than a small heating element, and spent a bit of time searching that out. That has taken the process of cutting the same stencil from 1 1/2 hours down to about seven minutes. A nice game time.
One of the images I’ve become quite taken with Is of my great great grandfather at the age of 17. It was a photograph taken shortly after he arrived in this country from Sweden. So after a bit of manipulation and Photoshop I came up with a three-step grayscale image which had been made into a decal. Okay, I can hear you asking what does that have to do with a stencil. Well, it’s the first step. I wanted a quick way to be able to try out this idea and see where it could go. The result is a new small piece which is the first in the heritage series. It is in the same format that I have been using for about two years now on a piece of 8 x 8 multimedia art board, this time in black, with a base of dots made with molding paste. Then using some of Gary’s techniques I applied several layers of color including a nice rich golden yellow and a brilliant red. allowing that to dry thoroughly then went back in for some more color to add to the detail. I then printed at the decal of my great-grandfather split down the middle and placed it on the left edge of the board. I then applied a layer of acrylic gel medium to tie everything into place. At this point I allowed it to dry overnight.
The next day I added a piece of rice paper which had been cut, moistened, crumpled, and glued in place with a matte medium. After it was allowed to dry I then went back in with water and a bit of acrylic ink to add depth and color. After that it dried and then quickly scumbled a gold metallic overtop. I also added a bit of a acrylic casting that I had in the studio.
Knowing that the Swedish heritage was important I then went on search for either a Swedish stamp, coin or bill. in time I found a image of a Swedish kronor which I was able to turn into a transparency. The transparencies have been doing are done with gel medium on glass and using a laser copy of whatever image I’m using becomes embedded into the acrylic medium. It is allowed to dry for most of the day, and then the paper is moistened and carefully scrubbed away. What you’re left with is an acrylic medium skin but the image embedded in the surface. When done properly it is very transparent. In this case the delicacy of the kronor made for an almost phantom type image. Perfect for my needs. So once that was allowed to dry I carefully removed it from the glass and then applied to the surface of the current image with more clear gloss medium. It was then allowed to dry overnight. I then used an acrylic ink marker and added the date, September 20, 1897 onto the image. I then applied some of the new holographic gel medium judiciously in areas of the original circles and I think it’s almost done and so goes the first of the heritage series.
Gary, thanks bud, I wish I had something to offer in return!