Thursday, May 8, 2008

Evening Sky


Evening Sky
10 x 10 Oil on panel
Please contact me if interested in this piece

The last few weeks I have been hit or miss, mostly miss, in my posting schedule. There are lots of good reasons- trying to get a group of larger pieces completed for my Chicago gallery and some personal stuff- but do feel guilty when I let it slide.

I've been having a problem lately with varnish. It seems like every time I varnish a painting I end up with lots of little bumps and debris on the surface that I didn't see before I varnished. I haven't changed varnish- I use Gamvar made by Gamblin- but I have changed my painting methods quite a bit and I've started using gessoed panels in addition to canvas. So I figured there was some technical voodoo at work. I went to the Studio Notes on the Gamblin web site for help. This is a great resource for painters- lots of technical information. I read their article on varnishing and then sent an email off with questions. Within 24 hours, as promised, I received a helpful email from Scott, who helped me pinpoint the problem (dust!) and gave some suggestions as to how to prevent or fix the problem. So today my husband constructed a little canopy under which my paintings reside while the glaze or varnish layers are drying- it was either that or build a new studio which is not in the same building as his shop. The canopy seemed like an easier solution. In addition to strictly technical advice, Studio Notes also has an interesting article comparing direct and indirect painting methods and the art historical context for those methods.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't generally comment on anyone's pieces, but this one is so lovely that I thought I'd tell you. I love the reflective light, the day end shadows, and the backlighting of the foliage. Very nice.

JudyS
Bluffton, SC

Deborah Paris said...

Thank you very much for your comments Judy. And thanks for visiting!

Todd Bonita said...

Deborah,

My God, these are looking so solid. I don't know if I mentioned this to you before but there is a living legend named Dennis Sheehan who lives here in New Hampshire and he does extremely well painting very similar to your work. I think your pieces are absolutely breathtaking Deborah..you really have something here.

All the best to you,
Todd

Deborah Paris said...

Hi Todd. Thank you so much for your kind words. You did mention Sheehan to me in a previous comment and I checked out his work- I feel honored to be compared to him! Interestingly, it seems we are both strongly influenced by Inness and the late 19th century tonalists. Thank you again for your generous comments.

Anonomous said...

This work is beautiful, Deborah! I really admire how you've kept things so loose and atmospheric, and with a solid sense of place and space.

I too have begun to work on gesso panels, and am quickly becoming a convert to them. The Gamblin site and their service to artists is just the best - I'm glad you mentioned them.

I'll be back to see more of your work!

Deborah Paris said...

Hi Materese. Just visited your blog and really enjoyed your work- I haven't tried the Ampersand boards but that's next.Thanks for visiting!