I love painting on brand spankin’ new canvases. There’s something clean and fresh about it. But sometimes I get the urge to paint over an old painting knowing the textures underneath bring challenges and difficulties but also possibility. Some of my best paintings are because of the failed paintings underneath.
I’ve had a large painting in my bedroom for about two years now. It was itself a painting over a painting. For weeks now, I’ve looked at it before going to sleep and thought about what I would like to paint on top of it. I created it when I was really into collage– I’d put bits of glass or paper all over a canvas, securing them with the paint itself.
I thought I might like to build over the collage elements as I worked today, but towards the end, I found many of them distracting and went to work removing them. Which, apparently, is not easy to do.
That’s when what’s pictured to the right happened. That’s right, a big ole hole.
Which devastated me, because even though tomorrow I might be far less enthused, today, I love this painting.
I’m not exactly sure what one does in situations like these, so I did what might be completely shady or downright brilliant. I patched it. Given the painting still had just a bit of collage, I thought I’d add yet another bit. I found another old painting, cut out a section of the canvas and collaged it right over the hole.
I’m assuming the experts would find this wildly inappropriate, but, I’m no expert on such things and am fully disclosing this painting’s flaw (or perhaps added character?).
If you’re interested in this painting, I promise I will refund you the entire amount should its little flaw ever become more evident or prove a problem in the future.
I can’t help but laugh even as I type this. I’m wondering what other mishaps await me in my 56 more days of painting.
May 12, 2015
Share Post
“Becoming” 8 in diameter, framed All of my days this month have begun before the sun comes up. I sit...
“Gratitude” 8×8, oil on canvas, framed Towards the end of last year, I started a gratitude practice: a morning stream-of-consciousness...
“Memory” 6×6, oil on canvas, framed I wasn’t sure how to finish my painting today, and when I started adding...
Become a member and enjoy early access to new releases, exclusive discounts, and a new wallpaper for your computer or tablet. Elevate your art journey with us.
This following document sets forth the Privacy Policy for this website. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Crh), which sets out a number of principles concerning the privacy of individuals using this website.
We collect Non-Personally Identifiable Information from visitors to this Website. Non-Personally Identifiable Information is information that cannot by itself be used to identify a particular person or entity, and may include your IP host address, pages viewed, browser type, Internet browsing and usage habits, advertisements that you click on, Internet Service Provider, domain name, the time/date of your visit to this Website, the referring URL and your computer’s operating system.
Participation in providing your email address in return for an offer from this site is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose your information. You may unsubscribe at any time so that you will not receive future emails.
Your personal information that we collect as a result of you purchasing our products & services, will NOT be shared with any third party, nor will it be used for unsolicited email marketing or spam. We may send you occasional marketing material in relation to our design services. What Information Do We Collect? If you choose to correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages together with your email address and our responses.