A Story About Turning Wrong into Special
Maybe it’s my art that has taught me to relax a little and not strive for the elusive ideal of perfection. Or perhaps it's just getting older that has resulted in a change in my thinking.
Either way it’s just not as important to me as it once was that things go exactly as planned.
Last but not least
I was reminded of this recently when I retrieved three small, 6” x 6” painting panels from my art supplies closet. These panels were part of a large order of painting supplies that arrived to the studio many months ago, and they are the last ones that remain untouched.
They were not the panels that had been expected and don’t match the rest of the panels from that order.
A younger version of me would have been really annoyed that I didn’t get what I ordered and would have complained and would have returned them.
But the current, older and wiser version of me decided to keep them and figure out how to work with them. So what if they don’t match the rest? I get to set the rules in my art practice, so I’m reframing the idea of them from “wrong” to “special”.
Unlike the wood panels that I usually work on which have a smooth and flat surface, these three panels have a raised edge on the perimeter. I’ve learned that these raised edges act as a dam when pouring liquid medium, like fluid paint or resin, on the panels.
I don’t work with these materials so I decided to use the panels in a different way. I would make work on paper and then cut the paper down to fit within the raised edges. Instead of a dam, the raised edges would be a built in frame for my paintings.
So that's what I did. Once completed the paper works were fixed into place with gel medium, the sides were varnished and a cold wax finish was applied on the surface of the painting. Et voilà!
A personality of their own
Wander with Me 13, 14, 15 displayed as a set.
These new small works don’t look like the rest in the collection. They have a personality all of their own.
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