The Scenes Paintings: Decisions 5

I wanted an open mesh overlay. Something to add depth, texture and complexity to the fog. I experimented with a few things: screening was too small, other things weren't pliable enough. My solution was to knit up a piece of fabric with some hemp string on really large needles. I could vary the colour simply by rinsing it out.

The Scenes Paintings: Decisions 4

I admire collage that is thick and over-stated. Turns out I can't do it. I put on a bunch of things, then take off 2/3 of them. That is what happened here. Also, I started working with the white, leaving spaces to let some of the colour action pop through.

The Scenes Paintings: Decisions 3

It must have been at this point that I decided I would not apply the 5 Lines on top of what I had going on. It had been an uncommitted intention to build these paintings up with layers, then mist over much of it with white paint, like melting memories. I didn't want to lose parts of the Lines in that process, or to lose the kids to the Lines.

It turns out the next move was about more colour and incorporating the kids.

The Scenes Paintings: Decisions 2

The next step is about the children.

I went through my photo files, looking for images that reflected the themes. I scanned, reversed, drew, scanned, added gradations, and scanned again.



 I went through files I have of my own kids' preschool endeavours. My son was a composer and my daughter filled pages with writing. I scanned them, printed them with slight shifts in colour and made them less opaque.

I printed the 2 together and reapplied gradations. Trial and error ruled the day. A lot of error.

The set of 13 completed, I decided that the collage effect would be enhanced if I tore some of the edges. I applied them to the canvases, like so: