continuing: process leading to light signs

So - I had decided I should try to recreate that wrapping, framing, golden effect - but in a more solid way. After some thoughts I decided glass should be the material - I had the knowledge (i e some knowledge) and the access to kilns at the Artists' Collective Workshops.

First I ran a test with small pieces of glass that I already had - and I managed to get perfect curves (how the kiln is programmed to achieve the result you are after). YES! Ok, a little bubble, but that was ok. And the wrinkles I tried to achieve got a little bit too obvious. But - just a test!

Spray painted in gold - got very excited about how it looked. So nice and shiny!

tried it with a photo of Heidi Klum

... and then I tried it out with some cut out faces I already had.

I was very happy about it!

... and then it was time for a one month Christmas break in Colombia ... and another month of administration and course preparation. ..and ... but in March this year I continued the tests

... to be continued ...

retake; process leading to light signs

So here we go again - back to my account of the long process that started more than a year ago (read first part of the process and second part):

November 2011  As I mentioned before I decided to keep the transparent plastic as a mask - instead of a paper one originally intended - as static electricity kept it in place.

When I spray painted I then got this unexpected effect - the plastic curled and created like a frame!

I liked this a lot; it became more iconic, but at the same time kind of trashy

fake, plastic, baroque

I had to take the plastic away though. (In this room and with that light it was still ok, but not as good as with the plastic on)

-

Back in the studio - boring. boring boring boring - Maybe I should try to recreate that wrapping, that plastic golden frame, following the shapes? Maybe I should go for more instead of less? I had started to paint watercolour on canvas to get away from the frame and the "picture on the wall"-feeling - but maybe the solution should be not to have the frame as a necessity, but to use it as a central part of the art piece - to make a statement with it? To use it to support what I was trying to say with the painting? - But how could I recreate it in a lasting way? (this was still november 2012)

last year; continued progress pictures

after making the painting more distinct and warmer with red, it was time to add something that would give more of a "mirage" feeling (the title of the painting)

... gold! Tried it out with pieces of gold painted paper

... yes, could work.

used a transparent plastic for sketching the mask before spray painting. Made a mental note about how much I liked that plastic look. Static electricity made the plastic stick to the painting and I decided to keep it as the mask instead of transferring the shape to a paper mask  -  a decision that made a huge difference for the next step ... to be continued

sometimes it takes almost a year ...

Before I post more photos of my Merry-go-round signs I think I should explain what lies behind; my thoughts and intentions - and the long road (often uphill) I walked to get there ... I've now got so much material (art) I will never use, because I felt that was not really what I was after. At least I'm not afraid of experimenting and really giving things a try!

Last autumn I really felt I wanted to get rid of the need to frame my watercolors, to get away from that "picture on the wall" feeling.  So I tried painting watercolour on specially prepared canvas. I also wanted to work with a kind of repetition, the "same same but different" you see in models' faces, in stereotypical beauty, in advertising. It's a canon, but also superficial. I was thinking biiiiig, I was thinking billboard. Maybe rising the pointless and superficial to an almost religious level? Overwhelm? Superimpose? Instead of minimum go fro maximum?

These are work in progress images I never showed from October-November last year.

my starting point and "inspiration" - a bikini add from H&M. I was only interested in the faces though preparatory sketch in real size (2,4 meters broad or something like that) mounted the sketch on the stretched and prepared canvas and made some changes (skipped the hand) first blue/red sketch (I never sketch with pencil). Still nothing "new" ... but it is coming ...to be continued