What to See

 Currently on exhibit in Boston is an installation by artist Firelei Baez at ICA Watershed through September 6. I have not been yet but it looks amazing with its elements of painting, sculpture, history and contemporary concerns. One walks under a blue tarp with shapes cut out that appear as stars or fish. There is a huge painting and structures that are textured with what look like barnacles. During these difficult times I do hope many people get a chance to see this exhibition in person. 

One Way or Another

 I'm often asked how to tell when a painting is finished. Several answers come to mind including intuition, boredom and/or when you can't think of a way to improve the work. When you think that you are done it often helps to  not look at the painting for a period of time- giving yourself "fresh eyes"- that will enable you to see if more needs to be done.

    But perhaps more importantly- how do you begin a new painting? Here again there is no one best answer. Hopefully inspiration strikes. If one is working on a series one painting will lead to the next. Some artists will consult their own sketchbooks or begin sketching an idea. Doing a small study or just applying a colored base layer to your surface can help. My preferred method is to work on several paintings at a time. That way, I can put the painting that might be done aside while I continue working on the other one.

    One way or another the most important part of this is just to start painting.

Studio + Safety

 Cezanne didn't let people visit his studio. Francis Bacon was infamous for the state of his studio that looked like a tornado had visited. My studio (above) leans more towards Cezanne's but besides making it easier to find things it is also safer. Whether  you are fortunate to have a dedicated studio or a room, basement, etc. safety should be considered. Of course one should have ventilation but also a fire extinguisher and high on my list is a metal garbage can with a tight lid. These have come down in price so that should not be an excuse. An artist friend of mine lost his studio to a fire-if he had that type of garbage can it might not have happened. Also you can see in the background my heat gun has a holder so the hot tip stays safe and my heated palette is on a metal table. When working with oils or acrylics I wear gloves and no food in the studio!

 Somehow, to my knowledge, Bacon avoided a fire even though he had oily newspapers knee high! Please stay safe.

Paint it Over (Franz Kline)!

 Franz Kline began his career as a traditional painter and illustrator. But abstraction called. He would "sketch" his ideas with ink on old telephone book pages.  One night while visiting fellow artist Willem DeKooning some of his sketches were projected up onto the wall and the rest is history-he saw how powerful they could be as large paintings.

Recently one of Kline's paintings "Nijinsky" from 1950 has been studied. He had painted over an older canvas-maybe one of those traditional paintings that didn't sell-that had as many as 15 layers. It seems that he primed over those layers and then continued with his signature black and white. Unfortunately the paint surface began to have issues in the 1960's.

I have painted over many paintings-a few I wish I hadn't! Many painters do. Just a word of caution-make sure your primer, gesso, etc. works with whatever is already there.