. . . wove more canvases

but this time I tore up an old canvas that was already finished and positively dreadful. I made two separate pieces out of the one larger canvas. The piece above was lightly covered with gesso and then spritzed with water and wiped down.






This canvas was not spritzed with water; I pressed various shapes into the gesso and let both dry. I have three pieces of work-in-progress going at one time, not counting the layers of tissue paper that receive the excess paint off my brushes. These woven canvases are perfect for experimentation. They are probably not something I would be comfortable selling. . . too experimental to have any assurance of longevity.






I am always on the look-out for things with interesting textures: at the hardware store, on the ground, in the trash, in packing material. Perhaps it's time to do a complete inventory of my massive stash of pure stuff; look what I found on my shelf. I have no recollection of purchasing these small sheets of aluminum. It must have been at an estate sale because of the $2 price tag on the box. This must have been a salesman's sample kit. But look at the textures. . .amazing. And they've been sitting there in my studio for quite a while because I just don't go to estate sales any more. I should have one.


When I see there are sales on art supplies or if I have a coupon, I buy different mediums to experiment with. On the big canvas I worked on yesterday (not shown here), I used a sand texture medium. I think it was Windsor-Newton. Very gooey, didn't cover a lot of territory, and I had my doubts. It dried clear but not white. . . there was a marked difference in color between the gessoed canvas and the area covered with the medium. It left an interesting texture, but I'm wondering why I couldn't put sand in gloss or matte medium or even gesso and get the same effect. The other medium I tried on the woven pieces was Liquitex fiber paste. It is supposed to give the surface a watercolor paper-like texture. More experimentation is required. . .


I usually don't get too excited about Halloween, but with grandbabies getting familiar with the customs, I try a little harder. Joey loves "pump-pumps" and Betsy, much to her parents' chagrin, rejected the little doctor costume in favorite of being a princess this year. I love gag (and in this case I used the term appropriately) novelties so I snapped up a small plastic skull, thinking I would check with Stephanie before I passed it on to the Betsy in case it was too gross. The skull is filled with a gooey substance and when you squeeze it, the eyeball parts bubble out and you can see inside the skull, which is filled with bloody little worms. When I tried it in the store, it startled me so much that I dropped it and let out a small innocuous curse, causing the woman standing next to me to laugh like crazy. Well, I need not have worried about Betsy. . . she loves that crazy thing, loves going around scaring people with it. Joey, however, has his doubts.