FRUITS OF ENDEAVOR (VARIETY)

#1215, 10" x 10". Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on wood panel.

By arranging individual expansion-event pieces (see previous post) I arrived at a possible combination of effects as different from each other as they could be in both color and pattern. The next step is creating the actual piece, and this takes the endeavor to a new level of difficulty.
Making a multi-event glue painting like this is a complex process that tests my skill, nerves, and luck simultaneously. It is in many ways a "performance" that must take place within a limited window of time and must be executed flawlessly since the process is not correctable due to the translucency of the surface (I really have to enter a certain mental zone, like an athlete, when i begin).
The formulas have known characteristics but are not 100% predictable in the way will behave once they begin to expand. Even if the drops of color media are skillfully combined in a central pinpoint of their circular pools, all environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pessure, etc.) must be optimal for their flowering to be fortuitous.
It will be many hours until the results are known (they continue expanding for hours), in which time all i can do is hope for the best.
When the final result is as attractive as the example above, I'm not only relieved, but thankful and amazed.

As of this writing, the painting pictured above is available through The Red Arrow Gallery in Joshua Tree, CA.
Next post: The ALL-BLACK - - most research-intensive project of them all.

SINGLES COMING STEADY

Single Event Glue Paintings - 3.5" x 3.5" each.

Since each "expansion event" is the result of two "parent" drops of color media being combined in a liquid "womb" to produce a unique offspring, it's fitting that they should be allowed their own individual existence as separate entities. Thus "single-event" glue paintings are born.

Soon after the most promising formula tests are compiled (see previous post for one example) I begin creating single expansion-event paintings on 3.5" square blocks of wood. Besides the focus it allows the product of each formula, the modular nature of each block allows me to utilize them in planning larger multi-event pieces by arranging them in various combinations on my work table and noting formula numbers within grids. This is where research meets design.

Next Post - the fruits of this endeavor.....

GLUE SEASON 2012 BEGINS

35 of the most promising new formula tests are given their trial run here on a permanent glue bed at last. 

This piece will function as a key for reference during the 2012 season as more compositions are planned from these formulas.

This is also a test of the new "color block" strategy for composition, in which related hues are grouped together on the grid.

First glue painting of 2012.

#1201 (Color Block Strategy), 24"h x 18"w. Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue.

(Click on image to enlarge)

MY ALL AND EVERYTHING

#1119, (77 formulas) 24"h x 36"w

This is the piece I was looking forward to all season - a showcase for all 77 formulas discovered during the 2011 season, arranged in order of discovery horizontally from top left to bottom right.

I average about one successful find for every dozen tests, so this represents quite alot of research - and it is gratifying to see them all arranged together like this.

Since cataloging seems to have been the theme of the season, this will stand as the 2011 magnum opus.

I really would've liked to keep this one for myself, but it's already out of my hands. Letting go of these pieces is sometimes difficult for me, but that's a subject for another blog altogether.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

SOLD

HARMONY

#1117, 10" x 10"

The smaller the piece, and the fewer the color cells, the more important the color relationships become. Such a compact and concentrated statement is an excellent opportunity to construct the visual equivalent of a musical harmony, or "chord."

I was seeking a cool overall psychological color temperature here as well, keeping to an analogous (closely related) color range between green and deep blue.

But the process is about pattern as well as color, so hopefully the variety of expansive patterns allows the eye to linger in fascination within an otherwise calm oasis of harmony.

RESONANCE

#1116, Resonance Strategy (60 x 2 +1), 36" x 36".

Largest piece of 2011, combining the (now) 60 formulas discovered thus far this season. This is a "resonance strategy" work, meaning that unity is suggested by repeating each formula somewhere else at a distant point in the composition (11 rows x 11 rows = 121 cells, so 60 formulas doubled make 120, with one formula that doesn't repeat).

If one takes the time to really look, it's interesting to choose one cell and then search the field to find its "twin." (click to enlarge)

WARM

#1115, 14" x 14"

Sometimes creativity is a matter of thinking "I wonder what will happen if I..."- and in this case - "...combine all the warm formulas in one piece."

Once again it was a matter of cataloging - selective cataloging here - choosing only the warm formulas discovered thus far in the season and running them down from left to right in order of discovery.

This unity of purpose provides a unity of expression to the eye, and despite its clinical origin, altogether it appears to harmonize into a focused "statement."