Sunday, February 7, 2010

Lighting the show

Thanks to everyone who posted comments here or emailed me with well wishes for the show at M Gallery. I appreciate it more than I can say. Despite torrential rains on Friday afternoon, the reception was well attended and the response to the work strong. Working with gallery owner Maggie Kruger and her wonderful staff Karen and Crystal to hang the show was an interesting and instructive experience.

I have been aware for some time that my work needs to be lit in a certain way to show to its best advantage. The glazes on the top layers of the painting will be completely washed out by harsh spotlights or even glare from windows. When that happens, all the mystery and drama and "glow" are gone! Low, indirect lighting works best. When the show was first hung, we adjusted the lighting, and then again. Finally about an hour before the show, we adjusted it again. The change was striking-so much so that both Crystal and Karen sort of gasped when we lowered the lights the last time.

Tomorrow my five day workshop starts. We'll be working out of the studio of local artist Sue Foster, who has graciously allowed us to use her studio this week. It is located on a lovely spot on the Braden river, a gorgeous"old Florida" location. Looking forward to a wonderful week!

7 comments:

billspaintingmn said...

Hi Deborah!
I was hoping to hear good news about your show!
There's alway so much that goes on
behind the scenes, to make things
just so for the public.
It looks like a good body of work
on display. Congratulations!
(I had a glass of wine to cheer you on!)

Brenda Boylan said...

That's just amazing how the lights affected the work so directly. I can see the glow way over here in Oregon!

Deborah Paris said...

Thank you Bill !

You're funny Brenda!

Lisa McShane said...

Glad it went well! More photos of the show please ;)

Ed Terpening said...

Congratulations on your show, Deborah. I know what you mean about lighting. It's tricky. I varnish my paintings with Gamblin's Gamvar + Cold Wax Medium. It gives the painting surface an nice even quality, but doesn't glare.

Caroline Simmill said...

Hello Deborah so nice to see the photo of your paintings in the show. I understand about how important it is to get the lighting just right.
Have a great week with the workshop. Looking forward to seeing some more photos soon.

Deborah Paris said...

Hi Lisa. I will take some more tomorrow when I take my class there.

Hi Ed. Yes, I use Gamvar too. So, its really not the varnish that creates the problem, but rather the delicate glazes can't take harsh lighting. Have been enjoying the figurative work you've been doing!

Hi Caroline. Thanks for stopping in- more pics soon!