Waiting. On View at SDAI Regional Show Through 8/23/09

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Size: 20x16x1.5
Medium: Oils, Acrylic And Paper On Canvas.
Date:07/08/09
This painting will be on view at the San Diego Art Institute's Regional show through August 23rd. Dr. John Marciari, Curator of European Art at the San Diego Museum of Art is the juror.

There are two paper parts in this collage/painting: the lining of the shoe and the chain-linked fence. The most challenging aspect of this entire piece was the fence. The painting had been moving along well and was finished, except for the fence. I found the image I wanted to use, printed it out, carefully matched the fence parts, glued the pieces together, sprayed the paper with a protective coating, carefully cut out the dog's hind quarters and glued the entire piece to the canvas. It looked perfect. And then it happened.

Right before my eyes the paper buckled and puckered! After waiting a week for the oils surrounding it to sufficiently dry, I wet the paper and removed it. The next week was spent printing and reprinting the paper until the background colors were the exact right shade (I ran through two ink cartridges); spraying and re-spraying the protective coating because it kept leaving spots on the paper; cutting and re-cutting the dog's hind quarters out of the paper to fit exactly, and then finally gluing it back down. It would have been faster to build a chain-linked fence and install it on the painting! Even the tiny little paper shoe-lining was cut a number of times to get just the right shape and angle! Although I could have painted these elements, in the end I am glad I used the collage-method because it adds interest and I like the outcome, at last.

On another note, yesterday an artist-friend took me to a gallery in La Jolla he rightly thought I would enjoy called Quint Contemporary Art . It was founded in 1981 by Mark Quint, whom I remember from high school and I have been intending to visit it ever since. I'm proud of Mark for managing to open and continue running a gallery and doing it this well. Afterward I was treated to a delicious lunch on the patio of the Museum of Contemporary Art a few blocks away. It was an inspiring afternoon and a perfect break.