Last weekend I did a demonstration at the Copley Society’s Co/So Gallery at 158 Newbury Street in Boston. It was  fun.

I’ve been spending a lot of time working on the layered glazes that  I use for backgrounds, so the demo I gave was about creating and pouring glazes. My goal is to create a unique sense of intensity within the surface of the image. As if the canvas itself has a transparent depth.

Watching paint dry at the Copley Society of Art

It’s probably not exactly the best thing to demonstrate since you have to spend a lot of time watching paint dry.

Really.

For me though, it’s fascinating. I pay very close attention to the layers as they are settling so that I can spatter and alter them thinking of composition and energy. Watching paint dry can’t be very exciting for most people, though it is for me. I did bring along many examples of work in various stages. I also brought different acrylic mediums; opaque and transparent crackles, gloss, mat, thick, thin… from Golden Paints. The variety of carefully calibrated mediums creates the opportunity to control the spontaneity of the poured colors.
Click here to learn more about Golden.
I also use metallic oxide powders in several colors.
If you’d like to see more images Co/So has a Facebook page with a lot of images of the presentation. It’s a great gallery with an excellent location. Go to Boston and take a look for yourself!