Printing the scans of Part 8 onto Stonehenge paper with the inkjet printer. Cutting out sections and mounting to the panels using matte acrylic medium, first sanding the cut edge and taking care not to get matte medium or water on the paper surface. A final post-mounting trim and sanding of the edges followed by another scan. Here is the result.
Good Witches of the Between, Part 8 -Petra returns
Building off of Good Witches of the Between, Part 7 the panels were scanned on the flatbed and two sets of 4 inch x 6 inch [10 cm x 15 cm] prints on glossy photo paper were printed out with the intention of working with the glossy surface of the photo paper in the manner Petra did in A Little Madness in the Spring, Part 2 .
One set of prints was cut into with an x-acto knife and pieces were glued onto the surface of the panels from Part 7. The panels were then scanned once more on the flatbed. Here they are.
The second set was mounted onto the 4 inch x 6 inch [10 cm x 15 cm] birch wood panels using acrylic matte medium. After drying they were trimmed and scanned. Here they are.
Finally, to this part, the bits of the photo that remained after sections were cut out and glued to the first set of panels were mounted to a third set of 4 inch x 6 inch [10 cm x 15 cm] birch wood panels using acrylic matte medium. After drying these panels were also scanned. Here they are.
Good Witches of the Between, Part 7 -enter Franz
Looking over the ten paintings, to the one above belongs, together with a. in B. the question arose what would happen when all of us entered into the picture?
Having applied Petra's mode of painting to this in the original approach, I next cut it down into 4 pieces to almost fit onto 4 inch x 6 inch [10 cm x 15cm] birch wood panels with a 7/8 inch [approx. 2 cm] depth. I pieced in the leftover strips to make use of the whole painting and not leave too much of the birch wood showing. The pieces were mounted on the panels using acrylic matte medium. Then I used artist's tape to mask off all the areas of the painting with the exception of the bright blue. These would be where Franzi entered in. I sealed the painting, the exposed areas as well as the artist taped areas with another layer of acrylic matte medium. I left everything to dry for a day. The next afternoon I took out a selection of Franzi's blues, some thinned acrylic gloss medium, some matte medium, water, painting utensils and the hair dryer. I began to paint into the exposed areas a la Franzi. The hair dryer gave a flash and a loud pop on the third layer of the first panel. I scavenged the working hairdryer from the bathroom upstairs and went back to work. I used an xacto knife to gently score the plasticized paint so that it would not pull off with the tape I'd used to mask the other areas. I rubbed the paint hard along the panel and the tapes edge with my finger in hopes it would adhere. The paint stuck, for the most part. Some of the painting underneath did pull up with the tape, but this can be worked with. I then sanded the panel edges and coated everything with another layer of matte medium. With a smaller brush I added additional glazes of a glossier blue to the Franzi areas. Before I work further here are the scans I made of each panel.
This one has no blue.
I am Melusine -Sütterlin
Momentary Messages of Truths as told by Petra Nimm with Interruptions by Robyn Thomas, Image Three
The process, materials, and size in this version of Momentary Messages of Truths are similar to those in the first two versions.
This is the original image used in the inkjet print. It is a detail photograph of the painting Good Witches of the Between, Part Seven.
However, there are differences between this version and the previous two. First, Petra began the process by wetting down areas of the inkjet prints, wetting the blank sheets of paper, and making the initial contact print. Petra was not involved in this part of the process. The papers were allowed to dry briefly on the studio floor. Here is a photo.
Second, Robyn took over the next step in the process by painting into areas of the inkjet print and then pulling the contact print using the Japanese baren and a sheet of buffer paper.
The scanning process was the same as in the previous two versions. Here are the results.
Momentary Messages of Truths as told by Petra Nimm with Interruptions by Robyn Thomas, Image Two
Unlike the two-part process of Image One, Image Two has a single phase of painting and printing with Petra and Robyn working together in a manner similar to the second part of Image One.
Here is the original image that was printed onto 4 x 6 inch Stonehenge printer with an ink et printer.
Before beginning the painting process Petra painted out areas of the inkjet print with gum arabic which she let dry completely before applying water or watercolor to the print. Robyn followed the same steps as with the first image, with the exception of dampening the paper with the spray bottle rather than immersing the sheet of paper into a container of water.
The remainder of the process, size, and materials is identical to Image One, Part Two.
Here are the results.
Momentary Messages of Truths as told by Petra Nimm, Image One Part Two
Step two with interruptions by Robyn Thomas.
Ten additional sheets of Stonehenge paper of approximately the same size were prepared by Robyn and Petra working together.
One at a time Petra's paintings were evenly sprayed with water from the spray bottle while Robyn dampened a sheet of the unpainted paper. Robyn then laid the damp, blank sheet of paper on top of the dampened painting. Laying a buffer sheet over top Robyn then proceeded to apply pressure to and rub the pieces of paper together with a Japanese baren. The papers were then peeled apart and allowed to dry for a couple of hours. A faint ghost image from the paint was transferred to the blank sheet of paper.
After drying a bit, but still damp, Petra took brush, watercolor and gum arabic and began to paint in areas of the paintings in response to the ghost image on the no longer blank print. Robyn then laid the paper back on top of the paper, and after laying a buffer paper on top rubbed the section with the fresh paint with the baren.
After another round of drying the papers were laid together in two different orientations, one emphasizing the mirroring, the other flipping the papers so the mirroring generated by the printing process is less obvious. These were then scanned on the printer scanner, cropped slightly and rotated to a landscape orientation by Robyn.
Here are the results. The image, uncropped, is approximately 6 inches x 9 inches [15 cm x 22.5 cm] with ragged edges.
Momentary Messages of Truths as told by Petra Nimm, Image One Part One
This spring I've been watching R. playing with photos she posts on Instagram. Instagram is notorious for being the social media platform deemed to be most detrimental to the mental health of youth, and one could assume to all users. It is a purely image based social media app, and could be summed up as confirming the adage "a picture is worth a thousand words". Users post photos and/or short videos, may include a #hashtag as a means to identify, connect or contextualize the image they are posting. Most likely a key cause of the damage to users' mental health originates from the perception of the images by the followers/viewers of the posters. The follower or viewer perceives the image as relaying some type of truth he or she wishes to be a part of. People, places, objects and events appear 'better' than they otherwise might be experienced by the follower/viewer in his or her own life. However, a key feature of Instagram is the ability to edit the image, to apply filters to make the image into a reality of the poster's own choosing.
R. has her own approach to Instagram. She rarely posts a photo of anything recognizable. Instead she creates abstract images by multiple manipulations of the photograph using both the photo editing options on her iPhone and those available in Instagram, moving the various versions of the photo's truth back and forth between the two applications until finally posting the image -in most cases sans hashtags so that the only hints to what the photo might be must be read by the viewer from the image.
This process is quite similar to the scanning and printing process she and I have been using in the studio with collages and photographs of the paintings, see Good Witches of the Between and A little madness in the Spring. What follows is a small, parallel exploration I have been doing with the Instagram photo-process in mind. Part One begins with an image R. posted to Instagram on June 6, 2017. The original photo, before it was subjected to the Instagram photo-filtering process, is from a painting I did. Here is the image after the filtering process.
I asked R. to print the image onto ten small pieces of Stonehenge paper, approximately 4 1/2 inches x 6 inches [11.25 cm x 15 cm]. I then painted on each print using watercolor, gouache and gum arabic. Here are the ten small paintings of image one, part one.
A short visit in the between
Inkjet prints, collage with knife and glue, scanned, printed, digital collage, etc. 8.5 inches x 11 inches [21.25 cm x 27.5 cm] starting size/paper size of prints, cropped images approximately 7.75 inches x 9.5 inches [19.375 cm x 23.75 cm].
Good Witches of the Between, Part Seven - another start
This past month I decided to take another crack at the Good Witches of the Between by starting with a fresh composition. I still had five fragments of the 'original' painting/photo-digital-print taped to some boxes in the studio. Here is a photo of the three remaining fragments taped up, waiting for what is to come.
I decided for this version I would not work on a cotton rag paper cut to a custom size, instead I would use a standard, 19 inch x 24 inch (48.3 cm x 61 cm) sheet of smooth surface Bristol. I taped the sheet of paper to the piece of plywood I keep on my easel for this purpose and coated the paper with a few layers of acrylic medium to adhere two of the five fragments to the paper and also create a bit of random texture. Next I traced a couple of the other fragments onto the paper. Then I began to paint with oils. Here are a few photos of the process.
Clipped to a vertical shelf support in the basement half of the studio is the current stopping point of this iteration of Good Witches of the Between. However, it is not the end. Petra printed 10 copies of a detail photo at approximately 4 inches x 6 inches onto 250 GSM, vellum finish, 100% cotton Stonehenge paper. More to come.
A little madness in the Spring, Part three - part three
Petra continued working on the 5 inch x 7 inch inkjet prints she'd begun adding a layer of acrylic gesso and water to, and which can be viewed in the post'A little madness in the spring, Part three -part two'. Taking the last three paintings in that post Petra began to further work the paintings adding not only layers of water color, but also experimenting with the addition of gum arabic, both as a masking medium, an additive to the paint, a resistence to slow the flow of the paint, and a medium to add a bit of gloss to the otherwise uniformly matte surface. Here are the results. Petra suggests when viewing the first three images here to look back to those three final images in the earlier post.
Three more small asides
Unlike the three small asides I posted in May, these three came about much quicker mainly because I focused on them. In that regard they became less 'asides' like the first three, yet they still are a part of this emerging series due to other underlying factors.
Each canvas is an 8 inch x 10 inch inexpensive, pre-stretched canvas with a painting from the 2013 series mentioned in the previous post. All three of these paintings contain a similarly printed piece of paper from my 'to be recycled' pile. This piece of paper and the printing on it became the basis of the composition of each painting as I painted on and around the folded forms. A thick, impasto layer of acrylic medium was applied for multiplepurposes: adhering the paper, sealing the enamel paint used previously on the canvas, and creating a texture. Finally, like in the first three, I limited myself to titanium and zinc white, mars and ivory black, but I also for one layer included a dab of Prussian blue to cool the black a bit more.
Gestures of CillaVee -Gestures of Petra Nimm
March 4, 2017 Robyn attended an evening of performance as part of XFest 2017 in the Holyoke, Massachusetts City Hall. With her iPhone she photographed and took videos of the artist CillaVee. The following week I selected about a dozen of the photos and printed them onto 4 inch x 6 inch gloss photo paper. Using various wigs and costumes and collaborating with a DJ CillaVee performed improvised movements as a number of personas that evening. Four of these personas appear in the photos I selected to use as the basis for the eighteen gestural studies below. All of the work is watercolor on 7 inch x 10 inch 98lb paper for wet media. A few of the studies also used rubber cement, which was latter removed, to mask areas of the paper or additional gum arabic as both a masking device and to alter the flow of the pigment. TBC...pn
Good Witches of the Between, Part Six- applying Petra
Looking back to Fall 2016 you may recall the work Good Witches of the Between was begun as a collaboration between myself and Petra Nimm. Most of the work -the making- was and has been done by me, with input to the process by Petra. Both the large painting-collage on paper and the oil painting on canvas did involve very brief episodes of Petra taking brush in hand and physically re-directing the painting; and in Part Five Franz became involved through staging an intervention of his own with the canvas.
Returning to the idea of Part Three, printing out detail digital photographs of the larger painting-collage on paper in process and then reworking them with watercolor and other water-based paints, in that group with the additional aspect of collage and completing the picture in the space of the page to which the photograph was adhered, in Part Six I again printed detail digital photographs, this time of the oil painting on canvas in process.
The result shown below is a group of ten paintings on 9 inch x 12 inch [22.5 cm x 30 cm] Bristol paper. Two digital photos were selected to be printed using a standard inkjet printer on the paper; nine images are the same image and the tenth is a slightly different cropping of the same area of the painting as shown in the other image. The materials used in addition to the paper and the inkjet ink were matte acrylic medium, acrylic gesso, water, India ink, and gouache.
The intent of this group of paintings was to begin using some of what I have learned from Petra’s approach to painting to this body of work we are creating collaboratively. It is important to clarify that it was I, not Petra, who made these ten painting. I used my own tools and materials as opposed to the paints and tools reserved only for her use, I was set up working in my own table space in the studio -the space only I work at. Unlike my usual routine of changing into ‘studio clothes’ I remained in my daily street clothes, the thought being by not dressing as ‘Robyn the painter’ I might in someway distance myself from the me who is usually present when I paint, instead creating a more open and ‘relaxed’ atmosphere of just doing as ‘Robyn’. Finally, three other important items to note; first, as myself I painted with my right hand; second, while the music selection was a random selection of artists similar to who Petra listens to generated by a Spotify radio station; third, a large portion of the time spent on this group was done in the evening, after dinner, with the presence of three other people entering into the studio, discussing their day and other family matters.
Here are the paintings, scanned on the printer from which they were originally printed.
Three small asides
The following three paintings I’ve worked on in the greenhouse since December. There is photo documentation of the steps I’ve taken with each along the way, however, I’ve elected to only post scans of each of the three paintings here at this time.
The paintings are re-worked from a series of paintings I made in fall 2013. They are 8 inch x 10 inch, inexpensive pre-stretched canvases. The original paintings were done in acrylic and oil and acrylic based paint markers. The subject of the series was my recent experience with complex seizures and diagnosis of epilepsy. They were quick paintings in which I was trying to work through my feelings, and they are quite a mess.
This fall I decided I would begin re-working the canvases, using papers collaged to the surface and a texture created by the acrylic medium I painted on to provide somewhat of a seal so that the oil based paint markers did not run or bleed to much when I began working over the painting in oil. The original paintings are incredibly, almost garishly, colorful. So I decided to counter this I would use only zinc and titanium white, and mars black and asphaltum. The papers I chose to use where drafts and misprints of diagrams I was working on as I tried to put the ideas I worked through in writing into a visual form.
The painting process was slow, but only because I did not focus my attention to these canvases. They hung on the backside of my studio ‘wall’ so I rarely looked at them. Only now and again would they catch my eye when I happened to go behind the wall to pick out another painting I was working on, and then I might add a bit more white or a bit more black.
The next step is to begin another three.
Franzi blue
After waiting patiently to the side, ready to assist when needed while Petra worked on A little madness in the Spring, once the garden was hung Franz was finally able to get back to some painting of his own. The following video is a roughly edited composite of documentary footage of Franz working on a previously painted 36 inch x 36 inch canvas. His material was thinned acrylic paints and gesso along with some enamel spray paint. The previous painting was also acrylic paints and oil and acrylic based paint markers. Franz worked on the painting over a period of two days, approximately eight hours total.
A little madness in the Spring, Part Three -part two
A continuation of A little madness in the Spring, Part Three
Petra began working over the inkjet prints with thinned acrylic gesso and watercolor. Here are some scans.
A little madness in the Spring, Part Two -part three
The next step in Part Two of Petra’s work A little madness in the Spring (see previous entries for the various stages of this work) involved not only additional layers of watercolor and thinned acrylic gesso washes to the front surfaces, sides and back of the 4 inch x 6 inch panels, but also the addition of mirrors to the interior space of what would be the reverse side of the panels.
Petra had expressed a desire to create a ‘hanging garden’ of the sixteen small paintings. For this she enlisted the assistance of both Franz and myself. Petra prefers to stick to the gentler parts of the painting process -making the material flow across a surface- and leave the more laborious work to others. She and I discussed ways to create a hanging garden, for now in the basement portion of our studio space. The wooden rafters in the ceiling that support the floor above could easily be outfitted with larger eye-screws through which dowel rods could be inserted, creating a ‘bed’ from which the panels could hang. I suggested using the hanging system Mark Roth applied to the installation of my work Sonata when he exhibited part of this winter in New York City. Franz agreed to drill small holes into the sides of the panels through which filament from which the panels would hang, could be threaded. Petra, finding my idea of not predetermining the orientation of the Sonata panels but leaving the installation to the curator and gallerist good, decided to have Franz drill holes in all four sides so the orientation of the flowers could also be left open to new variations with each installation.
I acquired the sixteen small mirrors for the work, painted the interior space of the panels black with India ink, and mounted them using silicon to the panels. Then, per Petra’s instructions, the panels were suspended from the dowels.
Here are some pics and videos of the process and current installation.
A video of Petra working.
Franz drilling.
Good Witches of the Between, Part Five- Franz's Intervention
Begun as a collaboration with Petra by late April the canvas in the body of work known as Good Witches of the Between had reached a point of just hanging around on the wall or ontripod in the studio. I knew it still had some place to go, but where? So I'd look at it a while and then move on to attend to other things.
This is how it looked for about a month.
On April 25 I came into the greenhouse to find that Franz, having received little attention or painting time in recent weeks, had taken the painting into his own hands. With white and silver spray paint and some thinned down acrylic gesso he loosened up the (up)tightness that had entered into the oil painting as I worked it.
Here is a video I came across documenting Franz's intervention.
Here is the painting after the intervention along with a few detail pics.
It no longer hangs on the wall of the greenhouse. It's time to move on. Perhaps Franz will take a solo shot at his take on the Good Witches of the Between; and if his version becomes uptight and hangs around too long maybe I will stage an intervention of my own.
A little madness in the Spring, Part Two -part two
The 4 inch x 6 inch prints on glossy, white photo paper mounted on birch wood panels received an overlay of thinned, acrylic matte medium. Like the printer ink in A little madness in the Spring, Part Three the ink on the surface of the photo paper reacted with the water and acrylic medium, running, flowing and allowing different colors to emerge. Unlike with the watercolor paper the fluid acrylic medium-water mix caused an additional reaction to the ink and paper -an orange line, still the glossiness of the photo paper, outlining the area the flow. Most likely this was caused by a separation of the water and the medium during the drying process. The center of the outlined area is a matte form with an ever so slight crystalline surface. In addition to the transparency that emerges in the watercolor paper paintings overlaid with the thinned, matte medium on these photo paper paintings there is the contrast between glossy and matte forms adding to the play between the layers, the figure(s) and ground.
A photo of a few of the paintings highlighting the play between the glossy-matte surfaces.
The scanned paintings.