I was in New York City this week and happened to stumble across a store front that I painted in 2006. With the help of the mobile interwebs and two smartphones, my husband and I were able to capture a quick shot of the actual scene behind an image of the painting (sorry about the car in the shot; it’s difficult to take photos in the streets of New York). I guess after years of painting, fun and entertaining moments like these are bound to happen.
My early attempts of applying gold leaf to my latest paintings is off to a great start. Even though, as you can see in this video, the gold is incredibly fragile. A mere sigh sends it flying into the air. It can’t really be picked up, moved or manipulated directly by hand. Instead, a fine brush loaded with static cling (called a gliders tip) gently attaches itself to the gold so the latter can be moved to the desired spot. It feels good to have a new process to master. This is certainly not like pushing paint around on a canvas.
After moving furniture, sweeping, mopping (and mopping again), dusting and scrubbing, my studio is in order. This is by far the biggest studio I’ve ever had. Actually, it’s an entire classroom. Tucked away up on a hill in West Homestead on the south east side of Pittsburgh, I now occupy a room that decades ago was filled with schoolchildren. Today there’s a sign making business on the first floor with artist tenants scattered around the periphery, including Pittsburgh legend, Bob Qualters.
I feel like I should be doing cartwheels in my new space because, well, I can. Guests are welcome since there’s room to sit in my “living room” and glance across the room at my paintings.
My studio is beginning to look like the inside of a wallpaper sample book. Thumbnail photos of print designs are accumulating on the walls to inspire a new series of paintings I’m experimenting with. The next layer on this canvas will be realistic oil painting of birds and insects. I’ve posted a glimpse of another such painting that’s nearly completed. I think for this one I will be adding Anna’s humming birds, bees and wasps. Then, the final layer will be a little accent in gold leaf of a lace design. That will all make sense when I have a finished product to post.
