The triptych

 I have just finished this triptych.

Materials: gesso, ink, brush, pen and pencil on canvas

Historic Shipwrecks

Clearly the Minister Tony Burke was impressed!  These are the six Historic Shipwreck Declaration documents I prepared just before and after the Blue Mountains gig.  How wonderful to see the Federal Government supporting the arts as Tony Burke does. Such a shame the ANU School of Music isn't getting the the same!



The great gold size story …

The great gold size story …

I went to teach two workshops in the Blue Mountains recently. To save on carrying all my art supplies for the participants by air, I either send materials ahead and/or rely on purchasing goods at the local art suppliers.

This time I purchased a gold size from the local. A size I have been using for near on twenty-five years. It is a safe, easy and fool-proof size for easy gilding … everything sticks to it – real and imitation gold alike.

With a glance at the label, I picked the bottle off the shelf. I held it up and thought “this is very white”. Normally the product is a creamy colour but I though no more of it. Then came the class demonstration. Opened the bottle and the product did not smell at all like the gilding size I was used to and I immediately knew this is not the product the label says it is.

I am well experienced with handling gold, gold sizes and gilding both traditionally and modern. In fact, I am teaching a class in Portland Oregon for the OCAC in June specifically on gilding and I was to use this product as one of the sizes.
Surrounded by a gaggle of eager students awaiting the glitz & glam of gold I gave my reservations about the size and to prove what I knew to be true I demonstrated in my usual fashion all the way saying the gold will not stick. Of course the gold didn’t stick. Phew … step one over.

I came back to my home studio in Tassie via Canberra and ran some trials with my own bottles of the size and some bottles of friends.  I knew then, unquestionably, the labeling production had gone awry.  Wanting to get to the bottom of the problem a.s.a.p. and make amends with my students I wrote to, then spoke with, the General Manager of the manufacturing company and put my case. Obviously they wanted the bottle and as I had lots of photographic evidence, my gilding swatches & my student as witnesses I happily sent it off with some swatches for the manufacturer too.

The minute they got the bottle the General Manager said:

The package just arrived and even at first glance I can confirm it is PVA. The labels are old labels and we were able to identify when this might have occurred. We can only sincerely apologize. We will send you 3 replacement bottles today. Thank you for your understanding and best of luck for your upcoming workshops.

Kind Regards … etc. etc. etc.

And … they did a product recall … and I got three new bottles yesterday! I must say I could have done without the hassle but two things have come from this unwanted intrusion into my frenetic life – I am really proud of my students for believing in me and two, I am very very pleased with the company for their immediate attention to the problem. I feel sorry for anyone who has tried this product and found it didn’t work … thinking it might have been them.

Note Bene: a pva will allow real gold to adhere to it but this particular pva is very thin and did not work at all. It dries flat unlike most pva’s I use.

The Plan ...

Easter is almost upon us. Six documents have to be created for the federal government a.s.a.p. Each document is 38.5cm x 57.5cm. The information is embargoed, not because the documents are grand or flashy, they're not but rather because the Minister will make an announcement and nothing can be said before then.  Anyway this is not the point of why I am writing. The point is how does one go about creating said documents in a very short timeframe when there are hours and hours of work to be done. 

The answer is all in The Plan ... I hope!

And the plan is:

v  Tuesday (today): create first roughs and rule up the entire six documents – this is doable.

v  Wednesday: pen the main text block in a gorgeous specially mixed charcoal gouache on all six – oooo this may not be doable but I shall try if I get up at 6am

v  Thursday: design headings and pen on all six documents - achievable

v  Friday: paint six times the stylised Australian Coat of Arms and the logo type – ooooo not too sure about this one

v  Saturday: gild the Department’s swirl corporate design logo, six times - very doable.

This way I should be finished by Easter Sunday but I shall have two days up my sleeve if not! Now that is a plan, and we all know the best laid plans of mice and men …

The whole document will be charcoal gouache and gold leaf. Hopefully once the documents have been created, I’ll take some snaps and get them to you once the Minister makes his announcement.

Phew! Glad that's done!

New mugs ...

I am very excited and pleased with my new "drink" mugs which arrived today. You will find references to my "drink design" earlier on in here. Feel free to scroll through.

A day not quite on the water ...

Cousins and kin, Alex & Netta McLaren

Kettering Marina, Tasmania

I am a MacLaren on my mother's side, note the difference in the Mac's? This particular MacLaren family (I'll spell it my way :-) was so large and quite a diverse group of relations, that on coming to Australia generations ago, some chose to use the original Mac spelling and others the truncated Mc form. It doen't really matter which Mac any of us use as the real name of our family goes back to Celtic Balquidder of the 13th century with the Gaelic name MacLabhruinn.

Over lunch we watched yatchs come and go as well as the Mirambeena, the Bruny Island ferry with it's cargo of passengers, cars and trucks. Lunch was lovely at the Mermaid Cafe.

And rightly so!

O my!

These photos taken by Marg Peachey in the Canberra class on the weekend were from a demonstration creating the gestural letter quickly then a slow build up of the compound form.

Thanks Marg!