She Chose Carefully

She Chose Carefully   oil on burlap on canvas   48 x 24

We have been lucky to patronize many corner markets in San Francisco over the years...loads of produce in bins right on the street.  This gentle older woman had no idea that I was trying to take in all of the lusciousness with my camera.  What struck me immediately was the time she took to select her fruit....which is diametrically opposed to my own always-in-a-hurry process.  And, of course, I end up with produce that is often bruised and sometimes rotten.  She was savoring that very moment....as was I.

The canvas:  had been gessoed and covered in burlap and gessoed and gessoed some more.  It had been leaning in the studio for at least a couple of years.  My other experiments on burlap were nature-oriented, a more apt application, I think.  But that day, that particular day, I needed some excitement of the art kind.  I grabbed up that canvas and began work.  Layers and layers of raw umber.   The color was added later.  And, while I like the final result (the burlap relating to the bags of grain and beans at the market), the process was made much more difficult by all of the texture.

Too much gesso.  Too much paint.  Too much work.  Was it worth the effort?  YES!!!!!

All That Glistens

All That Glistens   oil on burlap on canvas with gold leaf   24 x 18 x 1.5

was an experiment that, I think, turned out well.  I started out my fraying the edges of a piece of burlap that was roughly the same size as the canvas.  It was then glued down and rolled repeatedly.  Many many layers of gesso were painted on in order to allow the surface to receive paint, as well as to slightly (yes, slightly) smooth the very rough surface.  After painting the tree to my satisfaction, I realized that the image, although interesting, lacked a certain punch that I like.  The gold leaf circle was then applied.  That was very exciting and surprising, as the surface prevented a smooth application allowing for many small absences of the gold.  That pleased me so very much.  A happy accident!  Succinct and messy at the same time. All That Glistens is included in the holiday exhibition at Group Ten Gallery in Kent.