I just opened a show at MLB Gallery, owned by a former Hallmark Executive the lovely Marie Smith her gallery is just enough off the beaten path for viewers to really interact with the work without interacting too much with one another (or me!). Sometimes First Fridays can become an human experience rather than one about art appreciation...but her spot was a welcome exception.
This show incorporated my work with beeswax and paper in order to reclaim imagery produced by new world explorers, which also related to Anglo Saxon runic imagery. All of this was my new look at currency- something simultaneously future and past focused. I really had no idea how timely the topic was, until my friend Avritt came by for an afternoon preview and mentioned Autumn Radtke's (First Meta CEO, and Bitcoin developer) murder the night before. The show is titled New World Currency and is up until the end of the month. Here's a preview:
It's snowing outside right now even though we're on spring break (UGH!) and I'm in the studio all week potting, pouring, and painting, so there will be another post later this week with new findings. In the meantime, I want to show you two paintings I've been working on which incorporate the egg tempera as well as the natural oils for glazing.
2014, 2014
Christel Highland
Oil on Canvas
24 x 36 inches
On this piece, separate espresso and turmeric glazes were added. I'm pretty happy with this painting overall, but espresso (of course) does not absorb oil, therefore the pigment remains separate from the oil to a great degree making it un-ideal to work with in this manner because the dry time can be quite extensive. The turmeric, however, was fantastic for toning down the whites and giving an aged quality to the piece.
Window, 2014
Christel Highland
Egg Tempera and Oil on Canvas
18 x 24 inches
I love egg tempera! It bound beautifully with the oil. It did crackle where my application was a bit heavy-handed. So, I sanded down the extraneous bits which then revealed the under layer. It was actually quite exciting. Some of the texture you see is from an underpainting, so keep that in mind. I used lots of elements on this piece- letting it be a true experiment. The texture at the bottom is salt, which is something I tend to use in my works on paper and silk. A lot of the gloss is from the egg tempera, which was mixed in separate batches with espresso, iron (yes, you read right and you have to email me if you want this trademark recipe), and cabbage. I was pleased with all of these effects, especially the cabbage which is rapidly becoming a new favorite due its unpredictable nature. It read very purple with a grey underpainting. Finally, turmeric oil paint gave the nice gold finishing strokes.
Next time, I promise mostly pictures. Today has been a fun day in the studio with Clare and we took lots of pictures!
Be well,
Christel
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