Now I have two lovely easels and paints in every corner of this house – watercolors, acrylics, water soluble crayons, oils, and I am so ashamed to say, I haven’t touched them for eons. I used to paint with acrylics when the kids were babes but since then I’ve painted nothing except walls and ceilings and window-frames.
It’s been so long but nevertheless I want to paint something really nice without wasting my lovely acrylics and oils. So I guess watercolors are the best thing to use for my halting re-entry into artistic endeavors even though acrylics are the medium I am most comfortable with.
Still, after such a long hiatus, I know there is going to be too much paint wasted in the process so I will reserve my acrylics and oils for the works of perfection that will eventually follow. That does make sense, doesn’t it?
Now my watercolor Guide Book tells me the paper needs to be wet and then stuck taut to a surface so that when it dries it will not wrinkle. That’s very cute, isn’t it? Just how does one stick a sloppy wet piece of paper to anything?
It ain’t gonna’ happen. And in the past, when I’ve tried it, the paper still dried as wrinkled as a fried overshoe. In fact, even in art shows, the experts must be having problems because too often beyond the frame and the glass is a wavy piece of warped paper. The process obviously isn’t working that well for others either.
So we will have to find a new approach.
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And in pondering that new approach, I find myself thinking about the container of bum wipes Eldest Daughter left here last time her and wee Grandson came a callin’.
They are wet. Wet enough for water colors to blend and flow and smudge and make wonderful magical nuances of color that are so unexpected. And I have a strong suspicion that when those bum wipes dry, they will dry flat without taping or pressing or anything else for that matter. So in 2 seconds flat, I paint a test piece.
And Voila! How amazing is that? We have another new discovery!
The painting is no Vincent van Gogh, but still it’s a start.
All I need now is some bigger bum wipes – something like 16 x 34 inches. So I can do a big painting—a painting with undeniable presence.
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Oh how long it takes me to discover these things? And the reason it took me so long is because I was trained to do things the ‘proper way’. In my youth I tried way too hard to do things according to the rules. So many times I could have moved on but I stopped because I felt compelled to do everything the way others did it. You know – the way it is supposed to be done.
But no more! And I love, love, love, this unexpected freedom to do things without the slightest concern about how others do them or if I am doing them right.
6 comments:
magic! see what happens when you don't know a thing is impossible? you could become the famous new bum wipe artiste!
That painting is really lovely Roberta. Looks like there is no end to your talents... an amazing writer and a beautiful artist. And that's merely a start huh? I'd say that's a pretty good start by anyone's standards.
Pauline, thank you for that encouragement to be all that I can be (chuckling).
Joy, thanks for visiting. This painting is one of those that you want to stand well back to admire. It's a pretty messy business, but I do have to say, the colors, completely by chance, rather than skill, are delightful.
I am delighted by the notion of the bum wipe as a medium for art! And that looks like a very promising debut.
Dick, I probably should treat this discovery with more seriousness. After all, remember how the craze for 'pet rocks' was so insatiable for a time. Perhaps I have something here, as you suggest, that could be far more promising than I realize.
Thanks for visiting.
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