Another busy week, but I did manage to get to a couple of fabric stores and picked up some fabulously flamboyant fabrics for use in my work. It’s easy to justify purchasing fabric for art, but for sewing projects not so much, as I never seem to have the time to get them sewn!
 
Speaking of fabrics, I had the following question from fellow artist, Susan Irving  www.applesandart.ca/susan-irving/ …
 
“Looks like that is going to be fun! I was at a vernissage recently and much of the abstract art contained feathers and fabric, which did not seem to be treated in any way. I was wondering how that would hold up over time. What are your thoughts on this?”
 
Here is how I answered Susan …

“I would expect untreated fabric to break down over time, especially natural fibres. For example, about 30 years ago I made cotton lap quilts and the cotton fabric is now starting to disintegrate. Acrylic mediums, and Paverpol fabric hardener (also an acrylic polymer product), seem to slow down the process a great deal. I have a heron sculpture that I made with fabric and Paverpol and it has been out, year-round, in my garden for six or seven years and still looks like the day I made it. It is also important to note that untreated fabrics can collect dust and dirt, while those that are protected can simply be wiped clean with a damp cloth, or dusted with a house painter’s brush.
 
Feathers, I think, are a little more durable... like human hair, but I would still treat them with a polymer medium as it does slow down fading and aging. I once tested images printed using non-archival inkjet printer inks. Half I coated with acrylic medium and half I left uncoated. The uncoated ones faded very rapidly while the coated ones did not, in fact I got tired of having them on my window sill and finally threw them out, with almost no fading... I also had some that I kept in the dark as a control, to gauge the fading.
 
Even the great masterpieces need conservation from time to time, as the oil paint starts to crack and peel or the canvas eventually starts to rot and disintegrate. Fortunately, we have conservators who can preserve these wonderful paintings.”
 
Watch for Spring, coming in my next blog... with or without groundhogs!
 
This Week’s Painting Tip: Painting from Dark to Light
 
For those who paint in more opaque mediums, such as oils, acrylics and pastels, working from dark to light gives a painting an additional level of depth.
 
When painting trees I start with the darkest greens and then apply a minimum of two more layers of lighter greens to create depth. Think about it, the darkest greens will be in the shadows, underneath the leaves that are directly hit by the sun. Working from dark to light puts those shadows exactly where they need to be to create a natural looking tree. Same thing with tree trunks… I start with the darkest colour, add a medium and then the highlights.
 
You can apply this approach for everything… rocks, clouds, animal fur, human hair, waterfalls/water of any type, faces, fruit… anything! 

An excellent exercise is to start with a black canvas and start with dark colours and work your way to the lighter colours. By the way, Black Gesso is one of my favourite friends, especially when working in abstract. It covers old paintings well and provides a wonderfully creative surface to start on again. 

Here is one of my paintings that rose from a black canvas...

​After applying the background the full-face mask was next. I covered the open eyes of the mask with the same fabric as the background. This is to eliminate the rather ghostly appearance of the eye holes with no eyes. Now it just appears that the person in the mask has their eyes closed, and it looks much better! I also used some of the background fabric to anchor the mask to the panel. This will be obscured by additional pieces of the artwork.

​Next will be the primary mask and the silk poinsettias and all the bling, but right now I’m waiting for everything to dry… always, always waiting for stuff to dry! Whoever said that acrylics dry too fast??
 
Thanks for joining me today. I hope you will join me again soon… you can subscribe to my blog from my website at www.susanashbrook.com/blog. Also, please let me know if you enjoyed the blog, subjects that you would like to see covered, and any questions that you may have.
 
Best wishes,
Susan

It’s been a busy week for me and so this blog will be short, but hopefully, no less interesting for you, as I tell you about winter.
 
Today’s Lesson: Framing
The subject of framing artwork is an ongoing discourse… some artists do, some artists don’t and the reasoning is as wide ranging as from here to there!
 
Professional gallery owners always want the work that they sell to be framed. While some artists believe this is so that they get the income from framing the work, it is not usually the main reason. Unframed art, including gallery depth (1 ½”) canvases, always look better when they are framed. It’s the packaging of the artwork… the bow on the birthday gift, the heart shaped box that contains the chocolates. It’s what finishes the product and makes it more appealing to the customer. Try it yourself. Take a photo of one of your paintings without a frame, then take a photo of the same painting framed. Compare the two. What do you think now? Which one will command the higher price?
 
I often hear artists say that buyers prefer to select their own frames for their newly purchased art, but the fact is that the majority (80%) of buyers just want to take it home and hang it over the sofa. They just want it to look good on their wall with as little work as possible, beyond purchasing it and hanging it on a picture hook.
 
For those who see the advantage of framing their work there are a number of options. There is the relatively inexpensive choice of ready-made frames in standard canvas sizes. These come in a variety of styles and colours, including the traditional frame with a white or cream liner and the more contemporary floating frame that leaves a space between the canvas and the frame. These are usually available at art supply stores and some framing stores, who will install your work in them for a nominal fee, or you can do it yourself if you are so inclined.

The other option is custom framing, which does cost more, depending on what you choose and where you have it done, but can still be very affordable.
 
If you are planning to sell your art I suggest a standard frame for all of your pieces, perhaps with variances in colour to work best with what you are framing. This makes it much easier for you, your framer and also keeps framing costs consistent so you know what it will cost you for each piece.
 
So now the choice is yours to make! Let me know what you think.
 
Painting Update:
After my class last Thursday, I stopped in to the art supply store to pick up the two cradled wood panels that I need to start my Four Seasons. I had tried to get them a couple of weeks ago and although they showed having 20 in stock, none were to be found. They told me they would be ordered and probably in stock in about two weeks. Today they told me they would be in stock in mid-February. I did a re-think as I am keen to get started now, and decided to go with a different size which was in stock. But while considering my options, I made some changes to the plan in another way too.
 
Cradled wood panels come in two depths… gallery and studio, gallery being about 1 1/2” deep, while studio is about 5/8” deep. Initially I wanted to go with studio for all four panels, but then I got to thinking, what about if I did two of each depth creating an undulation of depth when they are hung together? I liked it, so that is what I decided to do. I just love the way work progresses as obstacles and options appear! As I say in my Artist’s Statement “For me the thrill of creating art is in the process!”
 
Having acquired the panels my next step was to prepare them with a clear coat to seal the wood and prepare it for taking the masks etc that will be applied. For this project I am using a product called “Paverpol”.  

​It is a polymer based medium, similar to some acrylic mediums, which, when applied to fabric becomes rock hard once dry. It comes in a variety of colours, including transparent, which, although white in its liquid state dries clear. This product can open up a whole new world for the artist, including 3D work. Below are some samples of work I have used it for. 

​For more information about Paverpol take a look at this website: http://www.paverpol.com/prestashop/en/  
 
Once the panels were dry I just couldn’t resist laying out the first piece, Winter… just to see how it looks. I took a photo of it (see below) so I could assess my layout and determine what other product I need to complete the design. Once I am happy with it I will photograph it again and then using the photo as a guide, rebuild it in its final form.

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Best wishes,
Susan