So reading all these books on contemporary art gets me juiced up, and I’ve been messing about in a rather experimental fashion. Specifically, I’ve been slathering whatever’s left on my palette at week’s end onto 11×14 pieces of Yupo, and doing so with no particular intention aforethought. Yupo is sheet polypropylene, blindingly white and amazingly slick. (It also comes in a translucent form, which I haven’t yet purchased - but think of the possibilities!). Oils slide around, lift off, and can be manipulated in fabulous ways. You can see all the places I’ve scratched into the paint surface on this piece.
I’ve also been working into the paint surface with a graining comb - loads of fun! and messy. Only drawback is that oils take forever to dry since Yupo is a non-absorbent surface; I’m even using goodly quantities of Gamblin G-Gel in the paint, which usually sets up fast on a canvas.
So - comments? Have I gone off my rocker? Time for the padded cell?
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August 20th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Of course not. You’re just pushing yourself in new directions without worrying about “what people will think”. You might lose some of your current collector base, but I’ll bet you’ll gain new buyers. It has always bugged me that there are gallery owners, buyers and other people in the art biz, NONE of whom ever seem to have picked up a brush, who have LOTS of opinions, judgements and ideas about what we should be doing and how we should do it. Very nervy.
Of course it’s a risk, but trying new things keeps us fresh and enthusiastic. We’ve all seen work from artists that is “consistent”, as in it hasn’t changed a whit in decades.
Another artist who I admire because he does what needs to be done for each piece, although he has recently settled in to a basic approach (for the time being), is Andrew Denman. I love his “deal with it” attitude.
The only other thought that occurs to me is, if you care, how archival the oil on the polyprop. is.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Susan, Andrew is another artist I admire tremendously - he’s fabulous, and a joy to hang out with too. I haven’t decided if any of these Yupo “palette leftovers” will ever see a gallery, partly because I’d probably need to find a different gallery to represent something as contemporary as these things are.
To the best of my knowledge, the Yupo is pretty much inert - the pad cover says “acid free”, and it’s inorganic, I think, so no real risk of breakdown that way. Once the pieces are dry I mount them to a panel for rigidity.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I guess what I was wondering is if the paint will literally stay adhered to the support over the long haul since the surface has no tooth, from how you’ve described it.
Andrew helped save my bacon (and sanity) at that crazy GNR show. He backed up my instincts and helped haul the crate out to the van. I saw his show at Pacific Wildlife and it was a killer. I’d buy the coyote one in a heartbeat if I had the bucks. You have to see the originals to appreciate the fascinating surface textures he’s getting and how much he leaves out. It’ll be interesting to see how his work is received in Jackson next month.
Anyway, the more “name” artists like you and he have the guts to work as you please and the heck with whether or not it “scares the horses”, the more liberating it is for the rest of us. I’m planning on doing some experimenting this winter. But,as you know, you have to know a species pretty well before you can successfully start to “break the rules” futzing with it.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
go for it. kay
August 21st, 2008 at 4:58 am
Susan, right you are.
Unfortunately, I think that applies to pretty much everything.
It’s often the people who know the least who think they know the most and hence are the most confident and tend to co-opt the conversation (and the money!)
I won’t try to claim it is true in all cases, but, alas, it is true all too often. Scientific research actually supports this. And the worst part is, the clueless are not even aware how clueless they are. In fact, they often think they are actually right when they are utterly and completely wrong — which is the source of their supreme, unwavering confidence.
With regard to your painting, Julie, I really like it. But, then again, I’m clueless when it comes to art (and most other things, too).
August 21st, 2008 at 6:45 am
Yes and Home Depot has giant sheets of clear polypropylene (10ft x 25 ft) for just a couple dollars (every artist’s dream, right?) I just bought some for painting (albeit of a slightly different kind)
And, from my past experience, the paint does seem to stick to it pretty well although i can’t say for sure whether it will still be stuck 50 years from now (cuz I usually don’t keep drop cloths that long). Also, I’m using latex. Oil paint for interior walls is so yesterday.
August 21st, 2008 at 10:41 am
Gawd Jules…fabulous! There’s a whole new world of modern wildlife art moving at a fast rate in Jackson. We’re hungry for change - you as a painter, me as a consumer - so keep right on creating!
Shawn
August 21st, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I think that abstract horse painting is better than most wildlife paintings I have ever seen! Looks like animated paint. Love it. New York here you come.
August 21st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Hey Julie,
Love it!!! To me, what makes this painting successful is that it is obvious you know horses…how they’re put together, how they move. I can appreciate this for it’s abstract qulity because it is based in fact. Not like some I’ve seen with the legs coming out of their neck or some other unlikely place or that look like a first grader painted it! Keep on pushing…maybe you should take on an “alias” with these paintings! Would be interesting to see where it goes…and I think New York is a definite possibility!
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 am
Thank you to all for the kind comments! Susan and Larry - as far as adherence, it seems to stick pretty well. I start with thinned oil (which stains the Yupo crazy beautiful) and the thicker stuff seems to adhere fine. There’s a luminosity to these pieces that I can’t get with any other surface. I’ll try to post some zoomed-in details soon - the photos don’t begin to capture the active paint surface.
Sandra, amazingly enough, I’ve actually considered using an alias and trying some of these things out in a more contemporary gallery. As far as NY, though, the modern art books I’ve been reading leave me with the impression that art must be big, weird, and ugly to do well there, and should have no trace of representation.
If I recall correctly (a BIG if), Steve Hammond related in one of our workshops how he’d heard a critic say about some modern-art thing: “This is great art. I can tell because it makes me want to throw up.”
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I’ve been using an alias (Pablo Picasso) for years and it has worked out pretty well. Can’t complain, anyway.
But don’t tell anyone.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
“This is great art. I can tell because it makes me want to throw up.”
I suppose that it is just faintly possible that there is one modern art critic who survives in that arena with his or her sense of humor intact, but I wouldn’t bet a paint brush on it. Not in an art world where lack of technical skill=more “valid”, “authentic” art.
The interesting thing in all this is that, in some ways, good non-representational art is more difficult to accomplish IMHO, precisely because anything goes. There’s no “object” to fall back on. You’re on your own to communicate whatever it is that drives you to create whatever it is you create. Ask Robert Bateman. Almost certainly, a lot of what is in the high end fine art museums now will be de-accessioned, uh, dumped, in the future if it hasn’t disintegrated on it’s own because eventually no one will remember What They Were Thinking when the museum acquired it.
I really believe that the representational art world has increasing room for all kinds of subject matter handled in an expressive rather than literal way because of a new generation of collectors. Maybe the mainstream of 21st century art will end up being an exciting synthesis that is like your horse piece- traditional skills combined with let ‘er rip expressiveness.
August 23rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I think the popularity of art that requires no technical skill on the part of the artist is pretty indicative of the level to which our society has fallen, as a whole.
These days, with most things (not just art) it’s less about skill and talent than it is about marketing.
If you are convincing enough, you can sell anyone anything.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:53 am
Hey Julie,
That’s really fun stuff! It’s so hard to break free and just let painting happen — good for you. It’s not crazy at all. I love it.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
What you are doing on a non-absorbent surface with oil paint reminds me of encaustic painting with wax on a smooth paper. The effect is so different in both media and the colors so vivid that there is a lot of movement in the art work……..no matter what the subject. I am not talking about adding a liquid wax to oils but to just using wax with a heated implement to spread the wax around. Without having a specific subject in mind, it is possible and probably to get really great affects. I love your work…no matter what you paint or draw.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
What you are doing on a non-absorbent surface with oil paint reminds me of encaustic painting with wax on a smooth paper. The effect is so different in both media and the colors so vivid that there is a lot of movement in the art work……..no matter what the subject. I am not talking about adding a liquid wax to oils but to just using wax with a heated implement to spread the wax around. Without having a specific subject in mind, it is possible and probable to get really great effects. I love your work…no matter what you paint or draw.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Love it! I can even see the glow on my monitor. Great movement, color, power and a feel of action. I remember reading about Nancy Glazier when she was sick of painting the “same old, same old” and started looser, more colorful painting using her other hand. She got grief from the galleries but they are selling as well (and possibly better) than her other more detailed work.
My feeling…. Go with your instincts!
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 am
I love this piece. It’s loose and free and the colors are perfect together. I like how much movement it has while not being too busy or muddy. Very well done.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Y’all are good for my ego. The question is WHERE the heck to sell these things…they’re way too contemporary for any of my existing galleries. If/when I figure that out, I’ll share it here.
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:23 am
Julie, just stumbled on this! WOW! LOTS of feel! LOVE IT!