Red Mesa
30"x24" oil on panel
@2009
The development of the Mesa Series came about from an earlier series called Ancient Walls. I have a continuing fascination with textures and layers, adding and removing paint passages, and pretty much torturing my surfaces. Where the Ancient Walls were non-representational abstract, the Mesa Series has taken on landscape and sky forms and is fairly recognizable as to a sense of place.
As in the process of Monolith, described here, I started with gesso. Red Mesa began life as a totally different painting, thick with galkyd pours. But galkyd can be a tricky medium. Too thin, and the color fades away, too thick and colors turn muddy. When that happens, there's nothing else to do but scrape it off.
Normally, scraping is not an issue. I have some very sharp canvas scrapers. But with a surface this large it can take more than an hour to scrape back the paint. And therein lies the problem.
Did I mention that I have very sharp scraping knives?
Yes, well, when I first learned about scraping knives from a fellow art blogger and fabulous artist, Margret Short, she warned me to be careful. They are...sharp! Great for removing dried paint.
Also great for slowly shaving the layers of skin from your fingers without noticing until the blood starts gushing. Literally. When the green paint I was scraping off started to turn red I realized I had ignored Margret's advice to be careful. Several bandages later I finished the job and had a great ground for Red Mesa. The red color is transparent oxide red - no blood added.
Red Mesa is part of the "Perception and Imagination" show currently on exhibition and sale at High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon, at the Redmond Gallery. The show will be up until October 30, 2009. 866-549-6250.
30"x24" oil on panel
@2009
The development of the Mesa Series came about from an earlier series called Ancient Walls. I have a continuing fascination with textures and layers, adding and removing paint passages, and pretty much torturing my surfaces. Where the Ancient Walls were non-representational abstract, the Mesa Series has taken on landscape and sky forms and is fairly recognizable as to a sense of place.
As in the process of Monolith, described here, I started with gesso. Red Mesa began life as a totally different painting, thick with galkyd pours. But galkyd can be a tricky medium. Too thin, and the color fades away, too thick and colors turn muddy. When that happens, there's nothing else to do but scrape it off.
Normally, scraping is not an issue. I have some very sharp canvas scrapers. But with a surface this large it can take more than an hour to scrape back the paint. And therein lies the problem.
Did I mention that I have very sharp scraping knives?
Yes, well, when I first learned about scraping knives from a fellow art blogger and fabulous artist, Margret Short, she warned me to be careful. They are...sharp! Great for removing dried paint.
Also great for slowly shaving the layers of skin from your fingers without noticing until the blood starts gushing. Literally. When the green paint I was scraping off started to turn red I realized I had ignored Margret's advice to be careful. Several bandages later I finished the job and had a great ground for Red Mesa. The red color is transparent oxide red - no blood added.
Red Mesa is part of the "Perception and Imagination" show currently on exhibition and sale at High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing of Central Oregon, at the Redmond Gallery. The show will be up until October 30, 2009. 866-549-6250.
Sue, your Ancient Wall series is splendid with vibrant colors and innovative techniques. The brillance of the reds is truly beautiful. So sorry for the "slip of the knife" accident with your scraping tool. They are sharp indeed. Sometimes I place a folded piece of paper towel over the edge to protect my left hand as I hold the knife steady. Margret
Posted by: Margret Short | September 16, 2009 at 05:38 PM
Truly beautiful work! Sounds like a process I would enjoy, except for the bloody fingers.
Posted by: Sue Furrow | September 16, 2009 at 03:56 PM
I never knew there was such a tool as scraping knives. Now I know. I've tried all kinds of tools to scrape back work with varying degrees of success. Thanks for the suggestion and for showing this vibrant work.
Posted by: Margaret Ryall | September 16, 2009 at 10:41 AM
I love both Monolith and Red Mesa! They are powerful and very evocative of the fierceness of the terrain. My own background is geology/paleontology and really resonate with your works. I was last in Oregon in 1985, but really was taken right back by your art. Thank you for the good memories!
Posted by: Kim Gibson | September 15, 2009 at 07:21 PM