FINALLY

• October 30th, 2004 • 0 Comments • painting, supplies •

This evening was a most productive one.

From Michael’s mother’s studio, I recieved six 8″x10″ canvases that have been doing nothing but collecting dust. Previously in the week I prepared the surfaces of five of them (the sixth was involved in an accident which pierced its surface, thus I will paint something else on it). The surface prep consisted of a very very oily mixture of zinc white and boiled linseed oil from the hardware store.

There has always been much tongue clicking from people who insist on using art store linseed oil: the seven-buck-for-4-ounce bottle kind. Two notes on hardware store boiled linseed oil — one, it is yellow and yellows even more over time, and two it comes in large quantities for not much money. I use a LARGE amound of oil in my work. At times my paintings take a week or two to dry because of the oil, not to mention the humidity. Art store linseed oil is simply not practical!

Linseed oil rants aside, the five canvases did indeed take over a week to dry to the touch, though thicker chunks of paint were quite wet. In about an hour this evening, the five evolved into a multi-paneled work I am entitling Planet. While I was very pleased with the results, it will most-likely take at least three weeks before I will be able to make the final judgement call on whether or not Planet is indeed finished.

The sixth panel with its canvas wound evolved into something completely different. For the first time, I combined screws and canvas. This piece is nameless and thus will probably not be finished for a while.

Moving back toward my more comfortable medium of wood screws and plywood, I did a “sketch” for another project which involves used computer parts. This nonsense has been ruminating in the back of my head for several years now and has finally surfaced. Family and friends are being called upon so that I may relieve them of old/non-working computers to get parts for the project. HOPEfully the computer part project will reach a climax rather than sink back into the depths of my scattered brain.

Infestations!

• October 27th, 2004 • 0 Comments • studio 4A •

I made the disturbing discovery the other day that my studio is being pestered by large roaches. You know the kind, the ones that crawl out and sit on something important while staring at you mockingly. Not only do I shudder in disgust at what of my drawing implements they might be skittering over at night, but more so at how long they’ve been doing it. I occasionally put a pen or paintbrush in my mouth; that’s one habit going down the drain REAL fast. Worse, they leave mouse-sized droppings ON MY WORK SURFACES. Of course you know, this means war.

On the plus side, I have started up two new projects despite the imposing threat of roach poop.

Back when I lived in Denton, I lived in at least one “iffy” joint of which other residents complained about roaches. Me, I kept my apartment crumb-free and sealed up all foodstuffs which left me seeing a maximum of one roach per year. I am curious as to what the little buggers are eating in my studio. Paint? Dried paper pulp balls? Chalk? What?? Reguardless of their interest, I can’t eliminate any studio items. The glue traps are set, and I am going to purchase a can of ZEP killer. That stuff is lethal: not only does it have a nice little straw spout that can aim into tiny crevices, but it sticks like glue.

I take it back, I can remove some items. I kept a number of boxes after moving which will no doubt do nothing but collect dust. That’s probably where my roach motel is. Except it’s the not the kind where they check in and don’t check out. Must get one of those as well. . .

Technical Pens

• October 7th, 2004 • 1 Comments • cleaning, pens, supplies •

As mentioned in my previous post, I have recently aquired a number of technical pens. Today, I have been cleaning them. Most are not too bad (Koh-I-Nor), but about four of them (Faber-Castille) were left for oh, probably 10+ years with a full ink resevoir. This makes for some fun fun fun cleaning! Actually I like cleaning technical pens, much to the horror of some people I knew back in college. There is something quite meditative about taking apart a tiny piece of equipment and carefully cleaning each bit of it.

In cleaning pens with 10+ year-old ink in them, I could’ve really used a miniature bottle brush. The resevoirs were slightly gummy, and needed that kind of care. All of the other pen parts fit into the jars of cleaning solution I have, though I will probably have to buy new solution soon. The two solutions I have are pure black and going empty!

There are noticiable differences between these old pens and the ones I am used to buying. Most prominent is the size of the ink reserve. It is easily double the size of today’s pens. It is also easier to take the entire nib apart. That is, I can disassemble the entire mechanism and give it a most thorough cleaning. Unfortunately this led to the demise of two nibs, bent beyond usability. (Though I was able to cannibalize a few parts from other pens for later use.)

The technical pens shared their basket with a number of calligraphic pen nibs as well. Those have fortunately not rusted, and are decidedly in good condition. I suppose I will now have to learn calligraphy.

Lastly, a photo of my little operation:

My biggest beef with my garage studio is that it has no sink. You NEVER realize how much you use a sink until you are without. This is up in my apartment’s kitchen.

Old Studio Reborn

• October 6th, 2004 • 0 Comments • exploring, supplies •

Michael let me help him go through his mother’s art studio today. She passed away a few years ago and left behind a massive amount of art supplies and other related objects. Generously, Michael is letting me pick out things I can use. He says that the would simply get thrown in the trash otherwise; no one else knows how to use them or what to do with them. I’m fascinated by the sheer amount of stuff in the studio, which is a converted two-car garage. Boxes stack up to the ceiling and run wall-to-wall with items.

Michael and I have known each other for almost ten years now. During that time, I never really got to know his mother. . .in fact, I only met her when she answered the door when I came to visit Michael. Now that she is gone, I am getting to know her by the things she has left behind. From the few art pieces, and the books I have found, she must have been a talented woman full of all sorts of art knowledge. Actually I feel a bit honored to help give her studio supplies new life by transferring them to my own. Used supplies have a different mein than brand-new ones; they have been loved and put to good use. Michael and I only brushed the surface of the studio today; Columbus day we are going to set out on a real adventure and explore the whole thing!

Of interest, I brought home the following items today:

1 - Tin boxes of tempera paint mix
2 - Glass ink bottles and ink wells (various colors)
3 - Speedball brayers with wooden handles. (One even has her name carved into it!)
4 - A used linocut block with a flower on it.
5 - An entire Koh-I-Nor Rapidograph pen set.
6 - A variety of palettes (metal, plastic, wood)
7 - A wooden drafting supplies box big enough for paper
8 - A flexible French curve
9 - A compass big enough to draw circles 12 inches in diameter

Bear in mind that many of these supplies are over 20 years old. Some of them are 30 years old. They look different than supplies available in stores today, and there are some minute differences in the way that some of them function. It will be exciting to see what more we find!