Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Painting Collage Papers... again


Painted tissue
 You should see the mess in my studio! Yesterday the whole room and all the surfaces were tidy enough for company, but now a mere 24 hours later it's a royal mess. 

Painting Papers

You see, I enjoy using papers I've painted for my collages and although I hadn't run out of collage papers what I do have seems a bit tired to me and I wanted some fresh colors to work with... encouraged by once again watching Carrie Burns Brown DVD on preparing papers, Water Media Collage Workshop.  So last night I cleared off the big work table and covered it with 2 layers of plastic and a layer of tissue papers. I got out my box of Golden Fluid Acrylics, some water and some brushes and got to work.

First thing this morning I ran to the studio to see the dried papers. WOW, they're beautiful. So of course I spent most of today painting more pretty papers and now I'm waiting for them to dry. If I lived down south I could work outside and the acrylic would be dry almost immediately But this is Oregon, so I wait. It'll be worth it.  Then I'm paint some more until I'm satisfied that I have enough for awhile.

Wet papers drying on the work table
Acrylic paint has a limited shelf life.

Fluid acrylics, as well as tube colors, have a limited life. The fluids start solidifying after a couple of years, even capped and stored upside down. After awhile the product more closely resembles the consistency of acrylics that come in tubes, and after a few more years they go solid on you. Same with tube colors. They solidify in the tubes.  I had to toss a few and am determined to make use of what's still good.

Moral of this little story:  Buy only what you need. Use what you have.

4 comments:

  1. These papers are so gorgeous! Also, thanks for sharing the tip on the paints...I had no idea...better get busy!

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  2. Today I’m working with a bunch of colored inks, mostly acrylic, that I’ve had for years. Two of the bottles had dried out.. that’s an expensive mistake. Perhaps the paint manufacturers need to put a past due date on their products just like on groceries.

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  3. Seeing your colored paper and the moral of your story inspire me. Thank you Jo!

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  4. Ok, now THAT'S the studio I want to see--the messy one, not the clean-ready-for-company-studio. And this seems like something we could work on side by side (hint...hint...). Call me the next time you want to make a mess.

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I appreciate comments and questions.