Rusty Nails

Rusty, hand forged,  antique nails

What have rusty nails got to do with painting?

I have a collection of these beautiful hand forged antique nails that I have always wanted to use in someway in my paintings and finally I have found it. They were the starting point for a new composition on paper.  Something that I have wanted to try for a long time: placing the nails on the paper, wetting them with a spray of vinegar and water and letting them stand until dry, creating  a beautiful variety of russet stains from yellow ochre to a  rich burnt umber.

My first support when I started working with cold wax was canvas, a rough surface sometimes accentuated by the addition of sand or inert materials.  This new piece is  totally different. I still used  wax but this time on paper, normal, light weight drawing paper. First, I stained the paper  using the rusty nails. This first time the nails were placed in a hap-hazard way, no idea in mind. I didn't even think I was going to continue working with it but as I looked at the marks I decided to continue. (for that reason I don't have a picture of the beginning.)

The next steps were interventions with wax, black India ink, and oil, resulting in "The Queen and the Joker" below.

"The Queen and the Joker"   17 x 14"  wax, oil, ink on paper

This is a detail of the painting. You can clearly see the the rust spots, the ink, and the wax.

detail of "The Queen and the Joker"

The Offering

The Offering

The Offering       9 1/2" x  7 1/2"      cold wax, oil, on canvas

An artist blogger that I follow wrote once that her experience in painting is not all the "joy" and "delight" that most painters describe when talking about their work. Instead it can be very difficult, a struggle from start to finish.

This is how it was for me working on this fourth and last of my cold wax series.  I was on the brink of throwing it in the garbage pail. I had turned it around, upside down, changed color pattern. . . everything!  But nothing worked, absolutely NOTHING!! Until, looking at it for the last time, on the floor (I often put my work on the floor where I can see it from another view point or where it is ready to be chucked!), I began to see new possibilities.

There it is, "The Offering" .  I don't  even have, usually, an immediate inspiration for a title.  But it just came with this one. As I think more about it, it's the perfect title for this difficult piece and my struggle.

Blue Notes

Blue Notes    #3 of cold wax series     9"1/2 x 7" 1/2

I am happy with this third  piece in the cold wax series. Still learning, something that most likely will never end, I saw new uses for the wax/color, sometimes thinned to transparency, sometimes thick and dense with color. I also used oil color sticks, very close kin to wax, which skimmed over the rough surface leaving traces of color depending on the pressure of my hand.

Second in Wax Series

This is the second of my trial pieces using cold wax.

7  1/2"  x  9 1/2"

  If  you go back to the posts done at the beginning of my experiments you may be able to see that I have completely reversed the image before continuing. I wasn't happy with the composition more than anything.  Then, finally, the images started to appear through scraping and adding color. I am learning that you have to build up your colors slowly and scrape away only when all is very dry.

Concluding the first Cold Wax Series

This was the first image of the cold wax series begun  several weeks ago. (You will be able to see the changes if you go back to earlier posts) I was able to maintain the idea I had from the beginning about keeping it soft and light thus giving movement to the figure.

Wax has helped me move away from minute detail.  The textures that can be created are exciting.  I still have far to go and will continue to experiment.

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first trial piece        7 1/2 " x  9  1/2"    wax on canvas

Summing Up. . .

The idea to bring my painting home with me hasn't turned out to be as brilliant as I thought. I have worked at home before, at the very beginning, when I didn't have a studio away from home. It didn't work then and isn't working now but for different reasons.

Years ago, I was so engrossed in my painting, drawing, etc.that my schedule as mother and homemaker was a disaster. When it was lunch time, time for husband and son to arrive for a carefully planned meal, I was still painting and in a panic because I didn't know what to put on the table. Of course, grocery shopping had also slipped my mind. Thank goodness  in Italy  a healthy portion of pasta (spaghetti) or rice can be a one dish meal (at least for lunch). And thank goodness for the pressure cooker. But the problem got worse. As my schedule of art classes grew and changed time tables, dinner was also affected.

My husband was a great help, so much so that he began to fill in for me. (His was a fight for self survival) .At first he was putting the pot of water on the burner for the pasta. Then he began to concoct his own spaghetti sauces, simple at first and more elaborate later. (And soooo good.) My son was the more serious objector.  He wanted his meals to be created with care and thought. His most famous comment was "but she only cooks when we're having company". True, but at that time, it couldn't be any other way.

Again working at home, I'm still engrossed and oblivious to schedules, but my husband is my chef most always which is a great help. Meals are not the problem since  we are just the two of us.

It is handy to work at home, no highway traffic to struggle with going into town.  I just can paint when I want to.  The problem now is that things are turned around. All my utensils, materials, colors,etc, etc, are  in the city. Most probably, slowly, I will transfer everything  here to my  home and will create  my space here.