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- Gallery Night Providence
- Weekly Update - Front and Back Yard Installations
- Matt Medium and Fabric Stiffener
- 12 x 12 x 12 November 2009
- icons + altars
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- Search Jeanne Williamson
My solo show "Off the Fence" will be open tonight from 5-9pm for Gallery Night Providence. I'll be gallery sitting, so if you're in the area, come by the Hunt Cavanagh Gallery at Providence College, in Providence, RI and say hello.
This is a partial campus map with the Hunt Cavanagh Gallery/Hall in red.
This is a google street map to help navigate around the college, but ignore the red marker.
Except for tonight, gallery hours at the
Hunt Cavanagh Gallery are Monday - Friday, from 9am-4pm (when school is in session). Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the Gallery will be open next week on Monday Nov 23 and Tuesday Nov 24 only, and will reopen after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend on Monday November 30. My show is on exhibit through December 4, 2009.
If you can't stop by,
see pictures of the show on my website.
Another week, another update. My back yard installation looks the same from the front, but I just noticed it's getting green algae-like spots on the back side.
Note this picture of the back side. I don't know if the algae-like spots are only on the surface or are also in the cotton batting between the front and back fabrics. I think the fact that the clematis is growing on it and is lowering the ventilation around it is part of the cause. And, the back side does not get any sun on it like the front side does, and there's also the buckets of rain we've has this year.
My
front yard installation is doing well. It has a little dirt and rust on the back side, but no green algae. This piece has much better ventilation since there aren't any plants growing on it.
Personally I don't mind that these pieces are getting dirty on the front or back. This is an experiment, and outdoor pieces in any material may break down or fall apart over time. It's hard to see behind the front yard piece above, but behind it is a lead handbag sculpture we purchased many many years ago. It is gradually being eaten by the squirrels. It used to be a stunning leather looking doctor's bag and now it's a skeleton of its self. I also have a few other sculptures in my yard that have been affected by nature, and that's part of its life. So far I'm considering this outdoor experiment a success. I'll keep posting about it to share and document it.
Beside here on my blog, you can see a few month to month pictures on
my website.
I'm experimenting with making some cut construction fence-like pieces and coating them with either the matt medium or fabric stiffener so they're more fence-like. I'm going to be in a two-person show in March, in a HUGE gallery space in an old mill building. I'd like to try making an installation in a corner of the gallery using the construction fence-like pieces so both sides of the fabric can be seen. I have this idea in my head, and I hope I can pull it off. If I'm not happy with the stiffened fabric "fences," I can do it again, but quilt it, cut holes in it, and paint color on the back side so it's not white. I'll keep you posted.
As I'm working on the bigger pieces I'm thinking about, I'm also thinking of having some fun, short term, with the two little samples I made by shooting pictures of them in different locations, as shown above. This one is looking through the fence in a bedroom in my house. I imagine many different fun pictures, similar to those I've seen when people take pictures of their
gnomes all over the world. I don't inspire to travel the fabric fences all over the world, but it could be fun to see different backgrounds through the holes.
Below are pictures of my two small experiments after I cut the holes in the fabric and stiffened it. It's impossible to show the different textures on the web, just like it's impossible to taste a recipe on the radio, but here's a quick description ...
This one I coated with Golden Paint's GAC 400: Fabric Stiffener (described below) from the
Golden website:
- Dries to a very hard and stiff film.
- Most useful for priming fabrics (cotton, linen, silk, etc.) when stiffness is desired.
- Allows sculpting and shaping of draped fabrics.
I like the stiffness. It puckered a little when coated, and makes a decent fabric fence.
This one I coated with watered down matt medium. The outer texture is nice, but it's rather floppy.
A friend of mine picked up some Paverpol, which is also a fabric stiffener. I need to plan a rendezvous with her to pick it up. Then I'll give it a try and compare it to the other two products. I did read a warning about it online that said not to let any of it go down the drain because it can harm plumbing. When I try if, I'll have to find a different way to wash my brushes and dispose of the water after cleanup.
When I was thinking of what to use for inspiration this month, I decided to consider the focal point piece in my show, "Off the Fence" at Providence College. I am getting a lot of positive comments about Orange Construction Fence Series #32/71 which has me to thinking about creating more fence-like cut pieces.
Since the 12 x 12 x 12 series are mounted on canvases when complete, I couldn't really cut holes in it unless I also cut holes in the canvas (which is a thought but I didn't want to do it this month). Instead, I decided to cut holes in the painted fabric, and place a different patterned fabric behind it, and give the allusion of a cut piece.
This month I created my monthly piece with plenty of time to spare in November. In October, I didn't make it until very late in the month, because it was so hectic.
More information about 12 x 12 x 12 November 2009 can be seen on my website.
If you want to know more about this series, you can read past posts about my 12 x 12 x 12 series here on my blog, or see all of the completed work on my website.
Recycled Fence Series #33/4 (mixed media on canvas, 12" x 12"), is on exhibit at icons + altars at the New Art Center in Newton, MA, through December 13, 2009.
There are 107 pieces of art in this exhibit and sale, which is a benefit for the art center. 107 tickets will be available at $250 each. A ticket allows the holder to choose one piece of art when his or her number is drawn at the Closing Reception." Due to the diversity of work and tastes, the majority of ticket holders get one of their top choices!"
The Opening Reception is today, Friday November 13, from 6-8pm, and the Closing Reception is Sunday December 13, from 3-5pm. The Ticket Drawing is at 4pm at the Closing.
It's free to attend the Opening and Closing receptions and the exhibit itself. The $250 charge is for tickets for the drawing. For those of you who are out of town, the show is online.
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