An Odd Mix. Some Works in Progress.

Reworking an older painting on Bristol plate paper 22X30

 Happy New Year to everyone!  I wish you all a creative and prosperous 2012.

I have in the last couple of years been in keeping with the idea of working on a painting until I like it myself and would want to keep it and look at it everyday if it was hanging on my own wall.  In fact I do actually hang them on my living room wall and live with them until I either think of something else they need, get sick of looking at it and take it back to the studio to figure out or "that nice boy I married" gets sick of looking at it and asks if I have anything new to look at.  If no one is tired of it and it sits there until there is something else to take it's place, I deem it satisfactory and don't mess with it anymore.
                                                                                          That probably seems like the logical process               now that I say it that way but what I used to do was get an idea for a painting, execute it, evaluate it for content and completeness according to the original plan and then call it finished.  If I didn't like it or think it turned out as planned I just gave up on it.  I never wanted to, for example, add acrylic to a traditional watercolor or collage to a painting of any medium unless it started out as a college project.  I would never crop a painting to make it better or add line or anything that wasn't part of the original plan.  My new attitude is if it's not working, start thinking outside the box and use whatever necessary to make it a better painting. I was very hung up on "Well it's a watercolor so I can't fix it or that is cheating."  I like Chagall's quote of "I work with whatever medium likes me at the moment" and I will add my own "I like whatever process and medium gets me to an image I am satisfied with in the end"
  I find that I am confusing people by doing what they perceive as several different styles of work but I am actually using abstraction to make my mind think differently in my figurative work.  The abstractions started out as a means to an end but I discovered that not only did they help my other work but I really like the process and the paintings  themselves and other people like them too.  I usually have up to 10 paintings in the works at the same time so to me they all seem like they relate as I go from one to the other depending on which one I have figured out what to do next on.  My methods are working for me and I am finding that I'm not that concerned if I fit into the basic "artist" mold.  By letting go of some of those restraints and rules, I am finding the fun and excitement of painting again which I had lost for a while. What's your story?

Watercolor on Coldpress paper. Abstracted realism 22X30

Mixed media on Hot press watercolor coated with gold gesso
14X18

Actually, another older painting that was unfinished
on Yes! Canvas 30X24 

Abstract in Progress

Mixed Media on Canvas  30"X40"

This is mixed media on Canvas.  Still working on it.  

Watercolor Experiment, Floating Market Thailand

Watercolor Canvas (YES Brand) 24X30 Watercolor and Acrylic mat medium

I've worked on this new watercolor canvas called 'Yes' Canvas before, as you may remember but haven't actually used it as a "traditional watercolor" substructure before.  I usually do some abstract mixed media type stuff on them.  I have wanted to create a very large watercolor and have had a 45X45" piece of watercolor paper stretched out and ready to begin in my studio since July or August but every time I look at it the idea of framing it gives me cold feet and I go work on something else.  So I decided to experiment on a 'Yes' Canvas to see if I could get the look of traditional watercolor I want without having to deal with the size and weight of traditional framing afterword.   Of course I often make some big mistake by getting ahead of myself and this project was no different.  I actually painted this whole underpainting in watercolor instead of using acrylic as watercolor.  For those unfamiliar with the properties of watercolor this means that the paint is resoluble and will lift if you re wet it unlike acrylic.  On watercolor paper this isn't such a big problem as you usually have to agitate the surface quite a bit to lift the paint significantly and it has to get pretty wet as well.  On this 'Yes' Canvas the dry paint lifts instantly when touched with a wet brush!  I realized my mistake as I tried to begin my second layer with more wet watercolor.  I then realized that I should have used acrylic as watercolor instead which would have solved two problems. The lifting of each layer and how to protect the finished painting.  I didn't want to completely start over so I decided to see if I could lightly paint a coat of liquid gel mat medium over this layer without lifting the watercolor too badly.  It wasn't easy because the paint lifts so easily on this canvas surface but I finally managed even though it did blur the paint in some areas.  Now I am ready to continue but I will not make the mistake again and will go forth with thin layers of acrylic instead of using the traditional watercolors.  We'll see how it goes.  I thoroughly enjoyed working on this surface with the watercolor up to the point when I tried to add the second layer so am very encouraged that I my be able to create my very large watercolor on a Yes canvas.  I would love to hear if about any experience you have had working with this product.