CONFLICTED….the armchair travel artist studio newletter #142

 

Oh how we suffer for who we are. Here I am in these “winding down” years, and I find myself caught up in this huge dilemma, torn between two opposing forces: the desire to retire to my recliner with books, pen, and paper, spending the day ruminating and generally doing nothing, and the never ending desire to go into the studio and create an epic body of work.

It’s an interesting dynamic. When I’m alone with my thoughts (that sounds better than ruminating.) my brain shifts into overdrive and begins to fill my head with ideas for new work with new subjects and different mediums. I envision one or more portfolios of paintings and drawings, pushing against the boundaries of my craft to become a better artist. It is so easy to do all of this in the comfort of my chair nestled in a quiet corner of our living room. From that chair I can do anything and everything. Unfortunately I can’t spend all day in this chair, so I have to find a way to act on all these brain-based aspirations I have, and the result is the Arm Chair Travel Artist!

Armed with a laptop computer and Google Street maps I have been traveling the world seeking inspiration for drawings and paintings. It’s been fun revisiting the streets I walked during my time in Bologna Italy seven years ago, but I’ve probably spent more time traipsing about the UK and the Netherlands.  I love the architectural differences in the various regions and cities, and for now Edinburgh is my favorite.  I’ve completed several in this series, and have several more in progress.

Maggie Dickson's  wc 12x18   Edinburgh

On the Water  wc  18x18  Amsterdam

The Bay Hotel  wc 12x15  Robin Hoods Bat UK

I finally have dates for the exhibit of my new clay prints at the Art Guild of Paducah. The show will run from Oct. 25^th to Nov. 25^th, with reception on November 3, from 5-7 at the AGP gallery at 115 Market Square.

The river portfolio exhibit is tentatively set to open on Janurary 11^th at the River Discovery Center in Paducah. I will have more details later.

TRY AS I MAY

Try as I may, I can't stay away from the clay.  A few months ago, after several years of abandonment, the clay began calling me.  At first just a few whispers in my ear, but quickly becoming a noise I could not silence.  I called John at the Paducah School of Art & Design to purchase a bag of kaolin, and quickly began the process of restoring the dry, cracked slab of clay.  Yesterday I pulled the first of a series of small abstract floral prints for the upcoming "In the Garden" show at Gallery 5.  (Opening reception June 16, from 4 to 8 P.M.)

#1 12x9"

#2 12x9"

#6 10x8

#3 11x9

BOLOGNA ITALY IN CLAY

The first Bologna inspired art I created was a series of 13 clay mono types, focusing on the most prevalent architectural element in the city...the arch.

Bologna Series #2  13x21

Bologna Series #3  21x13

Bologna Series #4  14x12

The daily dose of art THE JOY OF OIL PASTELS

Several years ago I came across a box of oil pastels I purchased from the estate of a Wilmington illustrator some 30 years earlier.  On a whim, I decided to see what I could do with them, and the result was a series of paintings done on previously abandoned clay mono types.  For some reason, as pleased as I was with the results, I've never gone back to them.  Maybe some day.....

Purple on Purple

                          

 Distant Light  30x15

SW Series #2  12x12"

The daily dose of art "CLAY DRAWINGS"

Staying with the clay for one more day - a few years ago while working on some clay printing inspired by my month in Italy, I began drawing on discarded pieces of clay prints with markers and felt-tip pens.  It was the beginning of a love affair that lasted several years.  The initial drawings were followed up by a series of drawings of Italian street scenes, and later, Paducah architecture.

Several clay prints to be used in the drawings.

Tribeca

Bologna

Must be somewhere

The daily dose of art THE VERSATILE CLAY MONO TYPE part 2

Quarter Moon  clay mono type  32x15

Untitled  clay mono type and ink

The 

The daily dose of art THE VERSATILE CLAY MONO TYPE

A weeks ago I began working with the clay, after a hiatus of almost 2 years.  I restored the surface of the clay base and began exploring new ways of creating mono types.  Alone, or with assorted mediums added to the process - pastel, ink, acrylic - it is possible to produce a wide range of images, from total abstraction to imaginative realism.  For the next few days I'll be sharing some of the clay mono types hanging around my studio.

Bologna Series #3  21x13

Contained  10x10

Tuscany in clay  pastel enhancement

The Daily Dose of Art....Oil Pastels

Several years ago I dusted off several boxes of oil pastels I purchased from an artist's estate over 30 years ago.  I thought it was time to give them a try.  After a few unsuccessful attempts on a variety of supports, I decided to try working on some discarded clay mono types that were printed on Reemay, an industrial material that is an excellent support for the clay prints.

I was delighted with the results; so much so that I went on to create a large body of work which was eventually exhibited in my gallery.  Because so much pressure is needed in applying the pigment, superficial fibers from the support are disrupted in the process, creating a please texture, as seen in these two paintings.

Dark Skies  Oil pastel on clay mono type  12x12"

Sad  Oil pastel on clay mono type  15x30"

Pastels and the clay mono type - the process

 

The clay mono-type is a variation of the traditional mono-type techniqu

A slab of stoneware clay 3/4 to 1 inch thick is pressed into a firm framed base mounted on a solid support table or bench.  The surface is smoothed and leveled with the edges of the frame and is allowed to dry overnight to a “leather hard” consistency.  There is no “correct” size: it can be small and portable or permanently situated in the studio.  This clay base will act as the “plate” in the creation of the monotype.  My current clay plate is 30x40” and was created in 2002.  By keeping it covered with wet paper and plastic drapes it will last indefinitely.

Mixing water and kaolin powder in a blender to a light pancake batter consistency produces liquid clay known as slip; several coats are then brushed onto the clay slab.  This slip also becomes the “paint” by the addition of pure pigments, dry or liquid, and is used to create the image by its application to the clay slab.  The final result is a flat slab of clay in which the image is imbedded. 

clay plate with completed image

A moistened support, fabric or paper, is placed on top of the clay and pressure is applied using a roller or brayer.  The support becomes impregnated with a thin layer of the clay resulting in a transfer of the image.

The clay print

The resulting one of kind images have characteristics unlike those produced by any other method.  The variety of techniques that can be used in this process is limited only by the imagination and curiosity of the artist.

All the materials used in this process are archival and the pigments share the same light fastness as other tradition pigments.  The finished print can be framed under glass, or given a protective coat of varnish and stretched over a canvas stretcher.

Because this process does not allow me to obtain the detail and the control I need for my architectural subjects I began adding pastels to the process.  At first they were used to enhance and refine the image, but later assumed a more primary role, with the clay print serving more as an under-painting or background.  When using pastels I create the print on a fabric ground, usually an industrial fabric called Reemay, or on Pellon interfacing, available at fabric stores. 

Tuscan landscape - pastel on clay mono type  12x32

 I also use the clay print as a background for mixed media drawings with ink, markers, and acrylic, as well as pastel. 

Greve in Tuscany - mixed media drawing on clay mono type

BACKING INTO THE WORLD OF PASTELS

After almost 20 years of watercolors I needed a break from the medium and began exploring the world of clay printing, a unique process for creating mono types.  I very quickly learned that this medium would not allow me to create the precise, tight architectural images I did with the watercolors. While I experimented with abstract art I continued to look into ways to render the architectural subjects that still held my attention,   At the same time, for reasons I cannot explain I became interested in the industrial environment and began depicting what I called “Industrial Skylines”.

They did not require the same precise technique as my watercolors, and the clay process was well suited for what I was trying to do, but I still needed to have more control of the medium.  Soft pastels were the solution to my problem.  After deciding on the mood/colors and the composition I would create a clay mono type, using Pellon interfacing for the support.   Then I would refine the image, adding details and adjusting colors, basically doing a pastel painting over the print.  Depending on the image, the “pastel content” of the final piece could vary from as low as 50% to as high as 90%.  It was only a matter of time before I began omitting the clay print to work  directly with the pastel.

Here are several early pastel over clay mono type paintings:

Oliver's Skyline  18x36  about 50% pastel

Re-worked skyline about 75% pastel

Prairie Grain Elevators  about 90% pastel

INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPES…part 1- the beginning

I have no idea where the inspiration came from, but the very first clay mono type I created was an imagined grimy, dark industrial scene, which I still have in my possession.

the first of many...clay mono type...10x34"

 Little did I know that it would be the first of many other prints and paintings in that genre.  In this post I will show several of my early Industrial Landscapes (ID),  clay mono types enhanced with pastel.

All measure approximately 15 – 20 by 30”

I soon began working only with pastels, and eventually explored 3 dimensional constructions. I enjoy creating these landscapes, even though they are somewhat of a tough sell.  Not many folks want a grimy power plant over their mantle.  (Except a few I know who have exceptional taste in art.)

A FUNKY INTERLUDE

After all the time spent on the Barns & Farms series preparing for this Saturday's showing of some funky 8 and 9 year old work is a fun respite.

mixed media...12x14

Construction...18x14

 Collage....12x12

 Clay mono type...14x30 framed

Clay mono type...15x30 framed

WHEN THE OLD IS NEW

Several months ago I made the decision to do a series of paintings depicting barns and farms utilizing a wide variety of mediums and working in extreme ranges of size.  I thought it would be fun, and I have not been disappointed.  Despite a few failures and miss-steps, I have been pleased with the results.  But there has been one unanticipated twist that has been especially gratifying...finding a new life for old forgotten work.

During my first few years in Paducah I worked extensively with my clay "press", producing an incredible number of mono types, either totally abstract or a combination of abstract and realism. The nature of the process of clay printing results in multiple discards for every successful print, and being a pack rat by nature, I saved almost every one of those discards, filing them away in some corner of the studio or buried under a pile of papers in a file drawer.

This is not the first time I've resurrected the discarded clay print; that occurred about 6 years ago when I began working with oil pastels on old prints.  Several years later, after my Italian experience, I began to use them as background for architectural drawings with markers and ink.  But in recent months I've found an even new use for these remnants of the past, incorporating their colors and composition in a series of small mixed media paintings.

Red orange landscape...oil pastel on clay mono type...13x15"

Big Red...clay drawing...13x28

Lavender sky...pastel on clay

And the two most recent pieces:

 pastel and markers on clay...5x8

soft pastels and oil pastels on clay...5x8

My supply of these old prints is just about exhausted and I am thinking about producing a new series of clay prints with the intention of using them as background for more of these mixed media paintings.  It will be interesting to see how this works out.

Anyone who has visited my gallery and studio knows that I tend to hold on to things.  Among the "stuff" in my studio are countless pieces of old clay mono types, prints that never quite made the grade, but for reasons unknown seemed worth keeping.  In the past few months my decision to keep them has been soundly justified; by using them as support for a variety of media I've been able to create some interesting paintings.  Some of the following enhanced clay prints have appeared in previous posts, but I thought it would be fun to show a sampling of the various pieces at one time.

 Purple Sky...oil pastel on cmt...5x3"

 Moon lit Barn...soft pastel on cmt...11x14'

 White barn...soft pastel and oil pastel on cmt...8x8"

Autumn Barn...markers and ink on cmt...5x5"

 On the hill...pastel on cmt...7x5"

These, and others, will be part of my Barns & Farms show at Gallery 5 this spring.