Paint Studio

My interest in painting began in the fall of 1998, when I took a ten-week class entitled Introduction to Acrylics. My intention was to learn to incoporate paint more skillfully into my collage work, but much to my surprise I developed an intense interest in painting on its own merits and plan to continue my course of study. I enjoy the freedom paint affords, as collage can be frustrating at times when I can't find a key element.

Initially, I approached my compositions from a more traditional standpoint (Angel, Temple and Deco), but found myself slipping into what I later learned was "process painting" (Labrynth and Journey). Perhaps that fragmented mind set, which is the essence of collage, has emerged in my painting. In Labrynth and Journey, I incorporated a lot of symbolism and used objects such as discards found in a metal scrap yard for mark making.

The great thing about this class is that the teacher encouraged experimentation . . . no rules! In addition to process painting techniques we used collage elements, stencils, relief printing, and several types of transfers.

I hope that through my sharing, I may encourage others to explore this medium.

Temple (20 x 16) acrylic on canvas

Art Deco (16 x 20) acrylic on canvas

Labrynth (15 X 20) acrylic on paper

Journey (15 X 20) acrylic on paper

Traveller (16 x 20") acrylic on canvas

This painting began with etheral bodies painted with light modeling paste. I painted over them with gesso and paint, and later sanded off the surface paint over the bodies to bring them back into the composition.

Ruins (14 x 18") mixed media on canvas

This piece incorporates a Polaroid transfer, as well as several other types of transfers. Less obvious, is the "decal" beneath the Polaroid transfer. A decal is created when you imbed photocopy "inks" or magazine inks into acrylic gel. First use a fixative to seal the inks, and then coat the surface with several layers of acrylic gel. Once thoroughly dry, the paper is removed from the back of the copy with water and a toothbrush. All that remains is the ink imbedded into the acrylic gel. I have also incorporated some fleur-de-lys relief printed images which carved. The column images were transferred from a magazine page and further detailed with acrylic paint. The darker areas above the columns were an attempted xylene transfer, which did not transfer well due to the slick surface. This piece is probably my favorited mixed media, in spite of design flaws, because it was the first time I incorporated my new skills with collage.