I wanted to let the collage sit a while before I coated it in encaustic. There are a few things I could add to it, but it might make it too busy, though they are all relevant to the Subject Matter. It is always the hardest thing for the Artist to decide when to stop, and not overwork the piece... So I decided to take a break, and started thinking about a Show. I do not want a group show, I definitely want all the pieces shown together in a One Man Show. Where that will be, I have no idea at this point. I might consider renting a space and bypassing the Gallery system, which would allow me to offer wholesale prices...
I know very well from experience that even though I like large pieces, and it does takes large pieces to impress the Galleries, the Public and the Critics, many people do not have the space on their walls, or the money to get them, but might well buy a medium or small piece. I am not thinking in terms of making money anymore these days. For that purpose, I have always said it is easier to sell an elaborate impressive $7500 painting than seventy five $100 plain small pieces. At least that was my experience in the 80's and 90's, when I did most of my painting. This show will be different, and may well be my last. I don't have space in the house to hang any more "left over" paintings, so I really want to sell most of the work. I don't want to be cheap, my work takes time, but I want it to be reasoneably priced, slightly on the low side. I want people that really like a piece to be able to buy it, and will work with them to achieve that goal, with discounts, layaway, etc...
I like series, triptychs, groups of 4 or even 9 smaller paintings that are related in style and color. So I will from now on work on 3 pieces at a time. Some will have to sell as triptychs, but other I might show as triptychs and sell separately.
I pulled out of my collections a number of favorite objects of no particular monetary value, simple old things and tools that I like and have over the years accumulated, but never took time to photograph. I am going to photograph them all first. Some of them will be used as such as part of the piece. Others will become part of my bank of images:
There are several things I do like very much in some of the pieces I have done so far, that are going to become a common thread for most of the show:
1. The mix of real objects with the painting and collage of realistic images to create sort of a mixed Trompe l'Oeil effect.
2. The multiple layers built into the panel, giving depth to the work, such as a cutout window, a niche, a drawer, a door, a protruding area.
3. The sheen and irregularities of the scraped encaustic finish.
4. The narrow real wood veneer frames.
5. The aged and weathered look.
6. The constrasty blackboard and aged paper look of the backgrounds.
7. The geometric figures, esotetic drawings, charts, graphs, grids, equations, algebraic formulas, words, stenciled letters and numbers, calligraphy, letters, solid lines, dotted lines, crosses, circles, spirals drawn over the background with white chalk or charcoal.
I fairly recently "discovered" the surrealistic shadowbox assemblages of found objects made by self taught reclusive Artist Joseph Cornell in the 40's. He has apparently many followers these days. He experimented with many different kinds of assemblages, some very simple, and some very complex. Some I love, some I don't like at all, so I put together a group of images of my very favorites:
I really feel we both share a love for a lot of the same kind of humble and often distressed or broken objects: old documents, old maps, old drawings, old astrological and astronomical drawings and prints, old celestial charts, old musical partitions, old blueprints, old tags and stickers, old photographs, old tintypes and daguerréotypes, old pipes, old broken dolls and doll heads, old globes, old wooden blocks, old radio tubes, old keys, old locks and padlocks, old tins, old clocks and watch dials and gears, old books and printed pages, old game boards, book marbled paper, old bobbins, rusted wire, rusted chains, rusted nails, screws, hooks and washers, springs, hat pins, dominos, dice, buttons, stuff hanging from old cords, metal rods, rings, drawers, doors and hinges, shelves, nooks and niches, the sun, the moon, disks, birds, insects, shells, bones, feathers, numbers, fonts, lines, grids, dotted lines, geometric shapes and constructions, spirals, graphs, crosshairs, targets, compass, points, egg shapes, stamps, seals, matchboxes, wooden sticks, round holes, boxes, chalkboards, corked bottles (preferably half full with liquid or stuff), tapemeasures and rulers, apothicary jars and bottles with glass stoppers, glasses, balls of all kinds, wine corks, marbles, minerals, coins, medals, small stuff, etc... We both like photography and film, Renaissance paintings, few bright colors on a neutral blue black to tan textured backgrounds, a full range of tones and fairly high contrast.
Of course, I have no interest in redoing Cornell, nor in doing any assemblage of actual found objects. My interest has been in Surrealistic Trompe l'oeil Effects. My intent at this point, and of course things may change, is to start with one found object I care about, to create a special space for it space within the panel, color the panel with pigments and/or paint, and then to go on as I already have with cutout images glued down and finally embedded in Encaustic. The original inspiration came from Cornell, but I know by experience that things will take a life of their own, and may end up looking quite different...
I know very well from experience that even though I like large pieces, and it does takes large pieces to impress the Galleries, the Public and the Critics, many people do not have the space on their walls, or the money to get them, but might well buy a medium or small piece. I am not thinking in terms of making money anymore these days. For that purpose, I have always said it is easier to sell an elaborate impressive $7500 painting than seventy five $100 plain small pieces. At least that was my experience in the 80's and 90's, when I did most of my painting. This show will be different, and may well be my last. I don't have space in the house to hang any more "left over" paintings, so I really want to sell most of the work. I don't want to be cheap, my work takes time, but I want it to be reasoneably priced, slightly on the low side. I want people that really like a piece to be able to buy it, and will work with them to achieve that goal, with discounts, layaway, etc...
I like series, triptychs, groups of 4 or even 9 smaller paintings that are related in style and color. So I will from now on work on 3 pieces at a time. Some will have to sell as triptychs, but other I might show as triptychs and sell separately.
I pulled out of my collections a number of favorite objects of no particular monetary value, simple old things and tools that I like and have over the years accumulated, but never took time to photograph. I am going to photograph them all first. Some of them will be used as such as part of the piece. Others will become part of my bank of images:
There are several things I do like very much in some of the pieces I have done so far, that are going to become a common thread for most of the show:
1. The mix of real objects with the painting and collage of realistic images to create sort of a mixed Trompe l'Oeil effect.
2. The multiple layers built into the panel, giving depth to the work, such as a cutout window, a niche, a drawer, a door, a protruding area.
3. The sheen and irregularities of the scraped encaustic finish.
4. The narrow real wood veneer frames.
5. The aged and weathered look.
6. The constrasty blackboard and aged paper look of the backgrounds.
7. The geometric figures, esotetic drawings, charts, graphs, grids, equations, algebraic formulas, words, stenciled letters and numbers, calligraphy, letters, solid lines, dotted lines, crosses, circles, spirals drawn over the background with white chalk or charcoal.
I fairly recently "discovered" the surrealistic shadowbox assemblages of found objects made by self taught reclusive Artist Joseph Cornell in the 40's. He has apparently many followers these days. He experimented with many different kinds of assemblages, some very simple, and some very complex. Some I love, some I don't like at all, so I put together a group of images of my very favorites:
I really feel we both share a love for a lot of the same kind of humble and often distressed or broken objects: old documents, old maps, old drawings, old astrological and astronomical drawings and prints, old celestial charts, old musical partitions, old blueprints, old tags and stickers, old photographs, old tintypes and daguerréotypes, old pipes, old broken dolls and doll heads, old globes, old wooden blocks, old radio tubes, old keys, old locks and padlocks, old tins, old clocks and watch dials and gears, old books and printed pages, old game boards, book marbled paper, old bobbins, rusted wire, rusted chains, rusted nails, screws, hooks and washers, springs, hat pins, dominos, dice, buttons, stuff hanging from old cords, metal rods, rings, drawers, doors and hinges, shelves, nooks and niches, the sun, the moon, disks, birds, insects, shells, bones, feathers, numbers, fonts, lines, grids, dotted lines, geometric shapes and constructions, spirals, graphs, crosshairs, targets, compass, points, egg shapes, stamps, seals, matchboxes, wooden sticks, round holes, boxes, chalkboards, corked bottles (preferably half full with liquid or stuff), tapemeasures and rulers, apothicary jars and bottles with glass stoppers, glasses, balls of all kinds, wine corks, marbles, minerals, coins, medals, small stuff, etc... We both like photography and film, Renaissance paintings, few bright colors on a neutral blue black to tan textured backgrounds, a full range of tones and fairly high contrast.
Of course, I have no interest in redoing Cornell, nor in doing any assemblage of actual found objects. My interest has been in Surrealistic Trompe l'oeil Effects. My intent at this point, and of course things may change, is to start with one found object I care about, to create a special space for it space within the panel, color the panel with pigments and/or paint, and then to go on as I already have with cutout images glued down and finally embedded in Encaustic. The original inspiration came from Cornell, but I know by experience that things will take a life of their own, and may end up looking quite different...
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