chickory: 04.11

4.30.2011

Peep Show

SR-71 the Blackbird 13 x 18 Acrylic on board

Tonight is the opening of the Peep show, a group show with bird-themed art. I have 4 pieces in the show; all of them were painted this week. That's very rare, normally it takes weeks or months to get a few pieces I like ready, but I didnt have the time or the heart with my Mom's death and another show I had in ATL and some other little jobs. This blackbird is my favorite of the lot - its the most abstracted and has a lovely surface.

When I started making folk art to sell at the farmer's market, I didn't know that it would lead me into painting on wood for my more upscale work. But I have grown to love the quality of wood as a painting ground. That big portrait of Koby was the first "real art" I painted on wood.

As an illustrator, everything I did was to be reproduced which meant painting on paper so art could be fed into a drum scanner. I painted in gouache which is a very flat paint with no reflective properties making the colors very rich. The reflective quality of acrylic paint annoys me. Its hard to see what I am doing especially if I have to use a light. Thats why I always try and paint from 10 am to 4 pm when the natural daylight is best. But acrylic lets me do things gouache cannot, like have many layers and the ability to paint out mistakes. With gouache, you really need to get it right the first time.

Etching into the wood for surface detail

What I love best about the wood is, well its cheap. When you paint on paper, and if you paint large on paper, then you have the expense of framing. And it is expensive to do it correctly. With wood I get a 1/2 inch thick board and finish the sides and voila, it's ready to hang. They'd look better in frames but I can now leave that to a buyer. I also like etching into the wood for added surface texture. The imperfections and the grain shows through on the final art giving it a kind of rawness that I think is more interesting than a perfectly smooth finish. And I like that wood is hard. I never liked painting on canvas because I didnt like the give that happened when I pushed into it with a brush.

With a busy background, a simple bird image worked best

Today I am making a strawberry trifle for the show, and planting my sweet potatoes and getting the little cabin ready for a certain visitor from the PNW. Its cold here this morning. I hope it is warmer next saturday as I plan to have us float down the river - a trip that is chilly even in July. Happy weekend to all!