The Evil Canvas

The Challenge:

Paint the largest canvas I have ever painted in a medium I do not especially care for in one month. I love a challenge. I will be participating in an Artist in Residency program May 25-June 3 through the Partnership with Israel program, made available by the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis. Kibbutz Gesher Haziv is hosting the second annual  "Fence Festival" the weekend we arrive. Every artist is given a portion of fence to display an interpretation of the theme "Point of Encounter." Mind you, we are not mandated to participate in the festival. But it seemed like a terrific opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone and to get more out of my trip by actually participating in the festival instead of just visiting it.

I'm committed now.

Last week I fretted over what to paint on. A visit to my favorite art store, Bates, yielded a terrific find. It's called "sign" canvas, and is gessoed on both sides. There were two remnants left - one 2 x 4 feet, the other 6 x 4 feet. Perfect! It is sturdy, but still light enough to travel with. And, I like the idea of doing a diptych instead of a single canvas.

Zeke helped me purchase a large piece of plywood, to which I stapled the canvases. The whole set-up is a bit unwieldy, but it should work. Once I got the canvas stapled in place, I leaned the whole contraption up against the motorcycle in the garage and there it stood for over a week....just looking at me. Defying me, even.

I couldn't bear to look at this thing much longer. Other than lacing the two pieces together, I was uninspired. Paint a sunset in the desert? Boring. I'd love to do an abstract, but where do you start with something like this? You start by visiting with friends. So I called on two wonderful, well-established artists who have faced and conquered many a canvas in their careers.

Meet Lois Templeton and Phil O'Malley.

I spent Saturday afternoon with Lois and Phil in their studio just south of downtown Indianapolis. They are the only artists in a large warehouse with loading docks and neighbors like Half Price Books' distribution center and an elevator company. They love it and it suits them. Their space is enormous and some how they have managed to fill it in the short time they have been there. Both Lois and Phil work large - so large that almost immediately my 4 x 8 foot canvas seemed to be a postage stamp. Ahhh, their company was working already.

We talked about art. We talked about technique. We ate chocolate. We looked at art books. We ate more chocolate. I soaked up the stunning canvases all around me. Lois has been hard at it before she leaves town and Phil was busy mixing up a batch of paints in squirt bottles in preparation for his next go at it. How could one not be inspired?

Lois shared wisdom and treasures. I came home with several books and two of the most wonderful paintbrushes I have ever seen. If only they could talk!

Have you ever seen brushes like this? The brown-handled one is more than 15 inches long! And it's heavy!!! Thank you Lois and Phil for a wonderful afternoon. I am so fortunate to have friends like you.

I'm motivated now. Zeke, my wonderful, supportive and ever-loving partner, agreed to let me convert our living room into a studio. We pushed furniture aside and created a space for my beast of a canvas. I like to think of this place as "my own little corner."

It's nice, isn't it? Natural lighting, the kitchen is 10 steps away. And, I'm home. Among the many bits of wisdom he imparted, Phil said to write all over the canvas to get started. So I did. I took a Sharpie and went for it.

Now that felt good!

Deep breath. It's crazy windy today and the chimes have been ringing and clanging all afternoon. That inspired me. So I mixed a little paint - well, a lot of paint actually because the canvas just drank it up and this is a lot of turf to cover - and I struck out into unknown territory. I loved using my whole arm and my body to put color on the canvas. I leaned and bent over and swept my arm - it was a workout of sorts. I worked for 40 minutes and then the timid feeling crept in again. Never mind. I started the piece and for that reason alone we will call this a good day in the studio!

There is one thing I am sure of. This painting won't look anything like it does now when I finish. Come along for the ride.