Still having a really productive trip, on a lot of levels. I’m getting better at giving myself permission to enjoy all there is to do here- given this opportunity I think most people would make an effort to have some fun. And happiness can be an art supply, folks!
At first I felt some amount of guilt because I wasn’t painting all day- this is supposed to be a residency right (in my head, every artist whose residency I’ve “seen” on social media has just cranked it out)? It’s amazing what kind of pressure we can put on ourselves, even when I am in the studio working at least twice a day (and thinking and processing more often than that). Fourteen plus sessions per week is a 5x increase over the ~three sessions a week I can cram in back at home.
One of the topics that has interested me for some time is strategies to apply paint which allow viewers to see through layers- I don’t intend for the creation of the work to be completely transparent pun intended, quite the opposite. It also, frankly, allows acrylic paint to be something oil can’t- thick and transparent. Love the idea of a physical thing having an ambiguous optical presence.
Also had a happy accident with a product I got from Utrecht that turned out not to be gloss gel. It gives me a 3rd sheen option in addition to the complete, dead flat of matte gel and high gloss gel.
Have been looking to Max Ernst for inspiration as well, and plan to explore (as he did) the use of grattage (which I have used in the past) and decalcomania (which I have not), both of which it’s safe to say were mastered by Ernst.
Speaking of looking at artists that do landscape, what is up with all the green that’s showing up in my studio oh wait…
Painting After Art is Dead 
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