“Night Fall” 40″ x 30″ oil and metal leaf – $2,900
I’m currently working on ten different paintings. This isn’t my usual routine, although I do sometimes work on half that number and give myself time to think about each of them. The greater number is caused by the drying time between each step of my new technique – metal leafing. In order to not rush the process, I keep starting a new painting.
I’m really enjoying working with metal leaf, but I’ve found it requires a whole new way of thinking about each painting. It isn’t straight forward as a direct painting method would be. It is both direct and indirect because each layer I paint or apply pushes me in a direction I hadn’t thought about earlier and sometimes gives me a few surprises. It is totally unpredictable and utterly fascinating.
The main problem with juggling so many compositions in my head is that it takes some time to get back into the “zone” of each painting after several days’ drying time. I usually start back small, working on the painting slowly until my original mood and plans re-emerge in my mind and I start to feel connected to it again.
In looking at other artists using metal leaf, I can see that the majority of them use the metal as a background, some as an accent and a few who integrate it into the composition as I do. Between each application of the metal, I also tone parts of it with an oil paint glaze to give the painting more depth. The metal shows through the glaze to give it translucency and affects the colors when viewed from different angles.
The painting above was painted early in my explorations and uses the metal leaf as an accent to aspen leaves to illustrate the “quaking” effect. Since then, my paintings have become much more complicated. “Night Fall” is at the Lawrence Gallery in Sheridan, OR.
