Magic Varnishing Spree makes up for Cupboard Door Madness
With the date of the degree show looming ever closer, I have been making little picture frames for my little paintings as fast as I can go for the last few days. My reasoning is that if I frame all my work this term then I can select from that what looks best together, and as they are all very small I shall need a moderate number to fill the space. Also after school has finished I shall want them framing anyway to send into open exhibitions, competitions etc.
The other day I found a small jar of clear varnish knocking around in the studio, and began slapping it onto some of my paintings – wow what a difference! The colour that you mix on your palette is always fresh as it is still wet, but as the paint dries on your canvas it can fade into a dull, matte tone. I don't want shiny glossy paintings, but a thin layer of varnish really brings back the freshness of the colours and the contrasts, particularly in the blacks.
In a mad moment of over-zealous inspiration, I had an idea to put little cupboard doors on the front of my box frames, and to extend each scene by painting on the inside of the doors, therefore creating a triptych when opened. However my tutor did not favour this idea, and although I was a little put out after we had finished arguing over it, I realised that it was just a strange gimmick and therefore rather against my principles of trying to do something new just to be noticed. The paintings are quite enough really in their simplicity and stand up for themselves just in simple frames. Oh well!
