Getting ready for my home holiday event!
Framed, wrapped & ready!
“Secrets of Solitude” -watercolor and gouache on acrylic ground on plexiglass - on its way to be displayed in the 47th Annual National Exhibition of the South Carolina Watermedia Society.
Guest Appearance and Demo
Had the pleasure of filming with Rachel Parker Varner for her YouTube channel. The demo is my technique for painting watercolor and gouache on plexiglass. Enjoy!
“Riverside Rebirth”
Redo of a 2017 painting …well, more than a redo. It was a spontaneous and quick obliteration. But some of the original painting can be discerned. Biggest painting I have done in a long time. “Riverside Rebirth” - acrylic on canvas - 36” x 36”.
Recent collage series…
“Quiet Nature Nos. 1-3“ - botanical gel plate print, Amate Bark papers, acrylic skins, ephemera and post consumer waste (strapping material) mounted on wood panel. 12” x 12” and 12” x 16”
A little studio moment…
Clean brushes organized!
Studio Cleanup!
Scenes from my two home studio spaces. Perhaps you can get some organizational ideas. My problem is keeping it organized and clean!
National Show Award
“Distancing Days” (water-soluble ink on Yupo - 10” x 10” framed to 16” x 16”) received an award in the 44th Annual National Exhibition of the South Carolina Watermedia Society. After Covid prevented problems last year, the esteemed Traveling Show of show winners will resume this year at select locations across South Carolina as operated by the South Carolina State Museum. Typically there are many monetary awards associated with this show. Sadly, Covid hardships have greatly interrupted award revenues. I am happy to be selected for this recognition. The LookBook of award winners as selected by Juror Fred Graff, along with the entire juried show, can be seen at the following link:
Recent Workshop at City Art
Enjoyed a full class where participants learned image transfer and acrylic skin making techniques to create a collage. This was a short 2-day class. Photo release forms on file.
Screenshot of the ad by City Art.
Supplies…all products by Golden Artist Colors.
Great teaching space!
Acrylic skin examples.
Offset spatulas for cake decorating work great for spreading acrylic gels and pastes on a surface!
Instructor examples.
Student work.
Student work.
Student work - great image transfer of an original photo onto raw canvas,
Looking back on some older works...
I stumbled across some old photos of works completed in 2007 & 2008…check them out!
“Golden Memories” - 8” x 8” - Acrylic on Canvas - Private Collection
“From this Field Forward” - 16” x 16” - Acrylic and Specialty Paper on Canvas - Private Collection
“Watching and Waiting” - 24” x 24” - Private Collection
“Depths Unknown” - Watermedia on Paper - 8” x 10” - Private Collection
Small Collage - Title Pending - Personal Collection
The story behind the collage:
1) The man pictured, my maternal grandfather, was a skilled and creative carpenter...hence the segment of a carpenter’s folding ruler.
2) He turned 22 during his first year of marriage to my grandmother, Ella. Notice the numbers on the ruler.
3) I was 22 when he died.
4) He died the week I was registering for classes for my first semester of Graduate School in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of South Carolina. I would be specializing in Micropaleontology, the study of microfossils.
5) The predominant pattern in the collage is an enlarged photocopy of the fossil Baculites...it was a, geologically speaking, short lived creature in the fossil record that makes a good index fossil...a marker (ruler) of time.
6) Baculites was a highly sutured and nearly straight version of an ammonite...a predecessor to the coiled ammonite we are most familiar with today (and often depicted in my collage work). A small cut and polished ammonite is affixed next to my Grandfather’s shoulder in the photo.
7) My middle name came from my grandfather...Arthur. My ancestor, my namesake, and my creative link in the family.
High Flow Acrylics were used to stain the image transfer on canvas as well as the black and white photocopy used as the background. There are several coats of MSA Spray Varnish. 4” x 6” on .5” thick gatorboard. E6000 was used to affix the ruler and ammonite. This was, in part, a test of materials…but I like the way the 4 elements connect to a personal story.
Follow-up from the Golden Live Demo
If you saw my live Facebook demo yesterday as a Certified Working Artist for Golden Artist Colors, the following photos are the results of the demo. As one of my favorite colors, I was very happy to provide an introduction to Golden’s Iridescent Bronze (Fine).
Iridescent Bronze on wet raw canvas once after the canvas dried. No alterations have been made. ~5” x 7”
The 5” x 7” panel used to demonstrate the wet-in-wet technique using Golden’s High Flow acrylics dropped into a wet layer of fluid Bronze. This is the image of how it dried.
Same panel showing alterations and cropped to 4” x 6” - “Broken Line”
Quick gel plate 6” x 6” print using a thin layer of bronze, embossed paper with Greek Key Design (used to offload paint from the plate prior to placing materials), a Blue Sky Vine leaf, and a white Turkey feather. Printed on Arches 88.
Iridescent Bronze: A Special Mix Creates a Unique Effect
As you can see from the label, Golden’s Iridescent Bronze is made of a mixture. This paint includes mica platelets that are coated with a layer of iron oxide. The color is achieved in the milling process where one of the Iridescent Gold colors is combined with a specific green pigment. When water is introduced to the milled paint, that green pigment will separate out from the iridescent color. This also happens when the paint is used on a gel plate where moisture comes from mineral oil within the gel plate. It is this separation feature that makes this a favorite of mine, and allows me to use it to obtain varying verdigris-like effects in my artwork..
Shown above are examples of the verdigris-like effect. The owl is a small bronze sculpture with an oxidized finish. The fossil ammonite is in a natural, non-iridescent state, but the coloration of the matrix material imparts a similar look. Demonstrating the separation of color in this paint is a big hit during my official Golden Lecture Demos at Universities, Art Supply Shops and Art Leagues. In fact, seeing the demonstration myself about 15 or so years ago is what got me hooked on this color! This is one color you will want to add to your collection of color essentials.
A white Turkey feather printed on a gel plate using the OPEN viscosity of Iridescent Bronze. Before the feather was printed, an embossed piece of paper with a Greek Key design was used to “offload” some paint from the gel plate and to allow the design to be printed onto the feather with the verdigris-like appearance.
Iridescent Bronze: Wet-in-Wet Technique
Examples of High Flow pigments dropped into a wet bed of fluid Bronze on a Bronze toned prepped birch panel. Once properly prepped, the panel received two coats of Fluid Bronze. Once dry, a Fluid layer was applied, sprayed with water and then High Flow pigments were introduced. These pieces must be worked on a flat and level surface. The manner of working these pieces is what I call “controlled randomness” because of the challenge of working wet-in-wet while pigments and different viscosities want to morph on their own if not controlled by an intuitive response. In other words, these compositions must be “babysat” until they set up or else I will end up with something totally different. A brief demo will be presented live on the Golden Artist Colors Facebook Page on August 26, 2020, at 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
“Daily Grace” - 12” x 12” - Private Collection
“Untold Stories” - 10” x 10” - Private Collection
“Riverside Dialogue - 16” x 16” - Part of the South Carolina Watermedia Society Juried National Show 2018 - available at City Art Gallery in Columbia, SC
“Winter’s First Melt” - 8” x 8” - Private Collection
“Lasting Respite” - 5” x 5” - Third Place, Artist Guild Gallery of Greenville Small Works Show 2016 - Private Collection
“Surfacing” - 10” x 10” - Private Collection
“Change of Seasons” - 10” x 10” - Private Collection
“Return to Black Creek” - 6” x 6” - Collection of the Artist
“Sacred Grounds” - 14” x 18” - Unity Wood Treating Company Award, Union County Arts Council Juried Show 2015 - Private Collection
Iridescent Bronze: Examples on Different Golden Grounds
Due to the nature of the paint, Iridescent Bronze can react differently on different surfaces and grounds. Some examples follow below. Try using it on your favorite grounds and pastes. The amount of water used will determine the amount of verdigris-like effect that will appear.
This is an acrylic skin made from Heavy Gel Matte that was cast from a handmade mold made with Amazing Mold Putty. The skin was then painted with Iridescent Bronze. This skin will be used as a collage element in a future piece.
Iridescent Bronze: Gel Plate Printing with Botanicals
Two different techniques illustrating how I use Golden’s Iridescent Bronze (Fine) with a gel plate for printing botanicals.
Examples: the types of prints that can be achieved with the techniques provided below.
Technique 1: Printing the Ghost within the Mask
Materials needed: gel plate, brayer, OPEN Iridescent Bronze, baby wipes, plant material, and printing paper such as sketch paper, Bristol or Arches 88.
Start by applying about a kidney bean size amount of paint onto the plate. Thinner layers tend to work best for botanical printing.
Using the brayer, roll the paint out to obtain a consistent layer of paint on the plate.
Place the plant material on the plate with the veins of the leaves on the plate for best results. It is easier to have the leaves hang off of the plate for easy removal.
Place a heavier weight paper like Bristol or Arches 88 onto the plate and rub the surface with your hands. Keeping the paper in contact with the plate, pull up the paper and systematically remove the leaves.
Continue until all leave are removed, and then press the paper back down in place and give a final rub with your hands.
This is the pulled print on a piece of Arches 88 paper.
Clean the plate with baby wipes.
Clean the brayer with baby wipes.
Final print. This particular sheet happened to have the watermark for Arches on the paper.
Technique 2: “Offload Print” followed by a Ghost Print
Brayer out a new layer of paint.
Arrange leaf on the plate and use a thin sheet of paper to offload paint from the plate. Newsprint paper works well but is not acid free, so I use sketching paper for this step. Use your hands to rub over the plate.
Remove the paper. This “offload” print can later be used as collage material.
Remove the leaves from the plate.
Pull the print using a heavier paper like Bristol or Arches 88.
Clean the plate with baby wipes.
Clean the brayer with baby wipes.
Final print using Arches 88.
Iridescent Bronze: The 3 Viscosities
Golden Artist Colors produces Iridescent Bronze (Fine) in three viscosities. Each is summarized below.
Shown with “He who had Little, had Much”, 12” x 12” mixed media collage. The background was printed on paper with the OPEN viscosity on a gel plate, and the round paper washer was painted with the fluid viscosity. Fluid Bronze was also used to glaze the photographic image transfer of the boat.
Heavy Body, Fluid and OPEN spread on a black background with a palette knife. The OPEN viscosity is distinguished by the black label on tubes or the black lid on jars.
Heavy Body: Formulated to retain a brushstroke. It is thick and creamy, rich with pure pigment and has no added fillers.
Fluid: Viscosity is like heavy cream that is 10 times thinner than Heavy Body but with the same pigment load. It creates a smooth application with less brushstrokes. This viscosity is easy to mix and may be used to make watercolor-like washes.
OPEN: Launched in 2008, this viscosity dries more slowly than traditional acrylics, allowing for extended blending, softening and lifting of color. OPEN can take 7-10 times longer to dry depending on environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, airflow) and other factors such as thickness of application and the type of support. By blending with Heavy Body, dry times can be adjusted to a preferred drying time.
Looking back…
Sometimes it is good to look back. Thanks to Cindi Boiter for allowing me to share this post again.
New work completed…
“He Who Had Little, Had Much”
A lot of storytelling here. Many of you have seen this piece in progress. It is constructed with a gel plate print mounted to panel using archival practices. Original and family photographs were used to make translucent acrylic skins. Other items of ephemera were used as collage elements. This is the first of a series. Panel size is 12” x 12” set in a maple floater frame. Several layers of Golden’s Spray MSA varnish were applied to preserve the surface. Golden’s Iridescent Bronze is a key unifier in this piece.
Before the pandemic...
A few scenes of life before the pandemic when I was traveling and providing Golden Lecture Demos across my region (mainly NC & SC and one in Georgia and a big event in Tennessee)…I really miss the interaction with the attendees! Hopefully next year! All of the cancellations this year have been so disheartening.
