February 27, 2007

Weaving It Together

It began with a lot of scrap canvas edges and an idea. (I dislike waste, and I dislike stuff that piles up unused.)

The painting had promise but just hung around hoping for some drama. I thought an enso circle might be the answer but soon realized differently. Began wiping it off but some parts had already dried leaving accidental marks that were quite interesting, but it still wasn't coming together. The selvage edges of the canvas strips add a wonderful new texture and often include threads of fabric that broke free and were glued into the paint.

2007 - Bokusho Kiwa (edge) - 30x30

Time was short as the show began to finalize and I had to take some 'do or die' action on this piece or forget it. So grabbed my trusty Transparent Red Oxide (plus a dash of this and that) and had at it. Transparent Zinc White in the center allowed a bit of the earlier Enso circle to show through. The bokusho stroke means nothing, but I like the importance it assumes. It's one of my favorites in the show.

8 comments:

Annette Bush said...

I remember when you began this one. I love where it ended.

Deb Lacativa said...

I love it when I'm floundering and suddenly something wonderful happens, you know it's time to stop and you wonder where it came from.

Martha Marshall said...

Perfect. There's nothing else I can say.

CMC said...

Looks wonderful, Karen. I don't remember it from before as Annette mentioned but it look fantastic.

I worked with weaving some old watercolors that had been cut up into strips a long time ago...but got away from them. Like you, I hate to waste stuff and sometimes fooling around like this comes up with a great idea.

Another thing I found works well for old canvas leftovers is to bond them to archival foam core with the unbleached colored side on top and then float your monotypes or works on paper on top instead of matting them.

Karen Jacobs said...

Thanks, all... I was really trying to stay away from my 'crutch' color, but red to the rescue once again.

Annie B said...

I love this piece, and I appreciate seeing some of your process. Your show looks fantastic! So much space and your pieces work really well with the pottery. As for Santa Fe, I'm wildly jealous. I lived in Taos for several years in the 90s -- it was like living inside a coffee table book. Kiss the sky for us.

Karen Jacobs said...

Thanks, Annie... I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to "kiss the sky" for you. We'll be up in the mountains, about a half hour's drive from Santa Fe... so the sky will be handy ;-) KJ

Anonymous said...

Karen, thanks for showing your process on this one. Everyone has pieces that "just are not working" and and it is a testament to the artist's skill and persistence to pull it off in the end. How ironic that the very element you were trying to eliminate became such a central part of the piece's success. I love it!