Sunset Palazzo

Let us begin here.






















And finish here

I got a bit carried away and neglected to photograph the interim steps of this transformation.  I remember being rather shocked to find myself reaching for a hot tone of orange at some point and smearing it on the work quite late in the process.  I've learned to just go with my instincts and not let my head get in the way.  Even if the colour doesn't work out per se, it usually lends an intriguing undertone to whatever colour ends up on top.  In this case, though, I left the pure colour as applied, feeling that it gave a heat and passion to the picture.  When I look at this painting I remember the magical colours of Calabrian sunsets, just after the early evening promenade before everyone heads home to a late supper (preferably after drinks on a terrazzo).

MEZZOGIORNO

The warm, sunny colours of mid-day in Calabria.

The penultimate step of the painting.  At this stage I didn't like how it was blasting right off the top of the canvas and felt some more softening marks were needed around the bottom edge of the composition.

Here are the basic colours laid down.  The building is time-worn and faded by the centuries of hot noonday sunshine.

You can see that right off the bat I was remembering the Calabrian sunshine.

The painting always starts with a fabric collage and then the appropriately toned photos are found to complement those colours.  I also look for details in the photos that will reflect some of the patterns in the fabric.  It's important to start off with a good fabric composition.  It's tricky to find the right photos (I'm running out!) and then to determine what size and level of saturation to print them.  The really annoying, fidgety stage is combining the photos and fabric as it involves machine and hand sewing, followed by a very messy gluing session.  In the end, it's the painting that's the easiest part.

Tartuffo

Tartuffo is a wonderful gelato involving different combinations of chocolate, cocoa powder, chocolate sauce, chocolate shavings...you get the idea. It is a specialty of one of my favourite Calabrian towns, Pizzo. Each gelateria--and there are many-- in the town square has its own spin on making a Tartuffo. My spin on my experience of Pizzo is partially captured in this large, 48 x 36 inch painting.

This composition, like the others in my Calabria Series, began with fabrics and photo transfers.  I really liked it as a textile piece and deliberated for a long while whether I should simply present it as such.  I had thought I would stitch it to a linen support and then stretch it like a canvas.  In the end, I decided that as I am a painter rather than a textile artist, I should glue it to a canvas and use it as the basis for a painting.  I added more fabric elements to the original composition in order for it to fit the large canvas I had on hand in my studio.  Waste not want not!

If you look closely, you will see an elderly signora gazing out the window of her apartamento to the square below, where a small family of Canadiensi are seated at a gelateria,  savouring their first ever taste of Tartuffo.

Another one for the Calabria Series.  For a change, I used a figure rather than only architectural features.  This was a lady I viewed from an upstairs window as she was leaving the Saturday market with a big box of groceries on her head.  The photo in the upper left is a shop closed up for the noontime rest.  I wanted to keep the colours very muted, old, faded, and yet still rich, while showing up the crumbling textures of the buildings and the patina of centuries' worth of daily living.

I am as pleased as punch with myself because I have made a large painting (48 x 36 inches). 

La Chiesa

Finally I get to use my gold paint!  Italians love gold.  (I remember my grandparents' living room.)

This was the interim stage.  There was one between this one and the one below but I forgot to take a picture.  It looks pretty good here, in the photo.  I like it.  But standing in front of the real thing today, it wasn't working for me. It wasn't cohesive.

I started with two coats of background colours, using a roller.  What a trip to paint on a canvas with a roller!  I've been missing out all these years. 

I spent many hours hand stitching the fabric "collage" together, using lots of gold threads.  I sewed it together probably a year ago, not knowing what I was going to do with it.  I thought it would have to be a piece of textile art but couldn't find a satisfactory way of hanging it.  I've also had two 48 x 36 inch canvasses taking up space in my studio for about a year.  Recently the penny dropped:  I  realized I could beef up the original fabric collage with more scraps of material so that it would fill the large canvas, and use it for the Calabria Series. 

I don't know why, but this painting reminds me of a wedding cake.  I hope the "prison bars" don't have anything to do with this impression!  Help yourself to a piece:

Here's a list of the ingredients, in reverse order:

To tell you the truth, when I was sorting back through my photos of the stages of this painting, I wasn't sure that this was the fabric collage that I had started with.  I guess I surprised even myself with where I took it.  At some point, I found myself compelled to add a bright green around the edge of the canvas. I covered it over with a deep blue wash, but it took the tone of the painting in a whole other direction.

I finished this painting a couple of weeks ago but have been negligent in getting it posted to share. 

Pizzo Corner

Shall we stroll backwards through the steps showing how I got to this particular place?

This was the penultimate state.  It seemed a bit flat so I added a picture of a statue, plus some lacy bits from an old curtain.  It 's a bit too "grapey" in tone for my taste, though.

Here I begin to "grunge" it up a bit.

Just getting on the background paint.  Nice colours, but too bright.

Fabric glued to canvas with photos (on cardstock) added.  I finally gave up on finding a decent brand of transparency to replace the Staples product (no longer available) as the results from the substitute product  were far from satisfactory, leaving half of the ink on the transparency and producing only a faint image on the muslin.  I've printed on both matte photo paper and card stock and one seems as good as the other.  I cover them with a good coat of acrylic medium so that I can paint on them to blend the image into the composition. 

Any questions?

And this is where it started. 

(Well actually, it started a few posts down on December 3rd, I'm a bit embarrassed to say!)

Ah well, good things come to those who wait.

This is the latest canvas that I've finished in my Calabrian Series.  It's different to the previous ones in that the motif is boats rather than buildings.  Also, there are more images than in the others, which made it very busy (not to mention the wild fabric) and much more challenging to integrate into a cohesive whole. 

This is the state the painting was in when I arrived home from my trip out to BC.  I'd been working on it just prior to my departure and wasn't quite sure whether or not it was finished.  I rather liked it at this stage, but when I returned, I felt it was just a bit too "collagie" and not enough "painterly."  Plus, it was just too different from the rest of the series.

This is where the composition began.  See what I mean about "busy"?! 

So with the completiton of this painting, I'm now back to Square 0 as I have no more fabric collages or photo transfers prepared.  In fact, I was rather dismayed when I checked my fabric-scraps stash and discovered I'd radically cleaned it out before I left for Vancouver.  What was I thinking?  I admit, I'm having trouble getting back in the creative groove.  It usually takes me a bit of time to get back in the "zone."  As we're heading off to Montreal next week, I think I'd better content myself with just puttering in my studio. 

Please bear with me!

This is where the painting began.

This is where the painting ended.

This was a very challenging one and I got so caught up in it I neglected to get pictures of the process. However, the changes were rather subtle, and mostly involved a whole lot of wiping off the paint I had just applied, leaving a hint of a wash behind.

This is the last in this particular batch of mixed media pieces in my Calabria Series. There will be more but I have painted all the stitched fabric collages that I made over the course of the past year, very sporadically. I am looking forward to discovering what comes next...but we will have to wait and see...

Calabria. Towns clinging to cliffsides. Tumbling down palazzos. Medieval towns, survivors of earthquakes and wars. Pastiche of new over old. Antiquated charm and contemporary beauty. Decay and regeneration. Poverty and riches. Warmth, suspicion, simplicity, duplicity. A land of stark contrasts and beautiful colours. A magical land.

Big Pink

As easy as 1-2-3

Stage 1: A pleasing fabric collage in itsef

Stage 2: Some atmosphere established

Stage 3: All elements are integrated

Big Pink

(18 x 24", acrylic, fabric, photo transfer on canvas)

Palazzo Plants

Here we go...oops! Almost forgot to get a photo before I slapped on the paint (2 brownish toned stripes going to the edges of the canvas).

I got pretty involved and a lot of ground and effects put in before I stopped to sit back and take a good look at what was going on and what needed to be worked on.

One particularly lumpy area was bothering me so I decided to slash into it. The turquoise colour hanging down is the slashed piece of fabric, revealing a silky bluish material beneath.

This is the first final rendition. I'm pretty happy with it, although there's something still a bit undefined about the front door area.

Inspiration! Thinking about the painting before going to bed, I wonder"What if I painted those triangular shapes in front of the door as if they were potted shrubs?" Nah. Too risky. But next morning, I can't shake the idea so I give it a go. And I like the effect!

Palazzo with Potted Plants

(18 x 24"acrylic, fabric, photo transfer on canvas)

Evolution of a Painting

Material glued to canvas, a quick swipe of paint to get going...

Let's get the whole background covered up, using the purple tone from a bit of the fabric...

Now for a bit of heat and movement...

Hmmm, I'm liking this. The colours are pleasing; but it's rather busy.

What if I stick on a bolder central image and flip the canvas sideways, continuing with several applications and removal of washes. Still not quite a cohesive whole, though...

Okay, so now the colours are quietened down, the shapes better defined, more depth added and generally the whole thing flows and feels "right" to me. Basta!

Il Centro Storico, La Notte

(18 x 24" mixed media on canvas)

Memento Mori

I neglected to get a picture of the "bare bones" fabric collage before I went at it with paint but this is the first "finished" version.

It seemed too stark, though...there was not enough depth to it and something was missing...

On my desk was a photo transfer on muslin that I had intended for another project. The image is of a graveside photo from Tropea. I kept having this urge to include it in the black & white painting I was working on but continued to resist the idea. Finally I thought, "What the heck--if it doesn't work out I can just paint over her."

So I cut out her face and glued it just below the window, sketched in a body shape with black paint and applied other effects to make her blend in with the rest of the composition.

And this is the final result.

-click on the image to see it larger-

(yes, that is a skull in the upper right hand corner! I didn't make it up. It was in a shrine in Pizzo and I have the photo to prove it!)

(16 x 20" mixed media on canvas)

What's in a Painting?

This is how it begins, a stitched fabric composition is glued onto a canvas.

A colour from the fabric is chosen to set the tone, but really just to begin covering up the stark white background as quickly as possible with paint...





Things progress quickly, with much applying and wiping off of paint à la The Karate Kid": "Wax on, wax off." Don't forget to breathe!

And eventually, the piece feels finished. Did you notice how the turquoise door was transformed from its original green? This is the same photo image that was used in the Red Door painting below.