Since the last post, I have finally come up with the idea, to use bedsheets to paint onto. I thought of this, after buying some plain wallpaper to spray paint and it reminded me of when I was decorating my room and how I got purple everywhere; the ceiling, carpet, skirting board and my bed. As well as this, I would always do my art work for school and college on my bed, getting more paint and ink on the sheets than anywhere else. The bed is where most of my ideas start and works begin so, the bed sheet is the best material to work on directly because it will eventually get paint on it anyway!
Here is the small section I painted on the wallpaper:
I think these three colours work really well and have thought about using them for my final piece. I like the texture to, it really pushes the colours forward and looks similar to my small A6 primed canvases (viewing a desert from above) but a lot bigger. I would like to paint a whole roll and paste onto a board.
Going back to the charity shop that I bought the pin board from, I got a bed sheet but I did not realise it was a fitted sheet until I had begun painting so next time I will check.
I prepared to paint the sheet in the garden and collected a few discarded items that could be used as a stencil.
Unfortunately, I did not cover the whole sheet as I had run out of spray paint, although I like the marks that the creases have made, creating more depth. It reminded me of Tauba Auerbach’s work in which the artist, folds the canvas for spatial effect before applying it on to the stretcher to paint.
Artist: Tauba Auerbach. Venue: Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen. Exhibition Title: Tetrachromat. Date: November 11 – December 22, 2011.
I went into the studio, to hang up the bed sheet to view it properly and I quite like where I have left the edges; becoming a boarder and compacting all the colours in the middle. I also like the sheet partly draping on the floor, making it different from a painting. I am happy with the result so far and will continue with the bed sheet idea.
I have also taken some close up photographs of this sheet and they are quite interesting; one area close up looks completely different from the other, as if they were separate works. Looking through James Welling’s website; who I have mentioned in a previous post, also created a series of close up fabric works, which have influenced me to continue to play around with different angles.
The second bed sheet painting to be made, was my own bed sheet which had ink and paint on already from other works. I wanted to see what the sheet would look like stretched so my brother kindly made a frame. I did not paint this for quite a while and it was left in the studio, blank for weeks but eventually I took the leap to just go out and spray it. The final outcome:
I do not like this as much as the first sheet and in the end, I have opted to cover it over with the other sheet. When the light shines through you can see traces of this underneath which to me looks a lot better.
I have also painted a quarter of another old bed sheet and folded, using a wider range of objects that have importance:
