Oils for a Change

"Fragments in Mutual Support", watercolors, double letter format

"Under the Ground Plan", oils over paper relief

After having painted with watercolors for years, I came back to painting in oils. I restricted my art on smaller formats and paper, mostly because I just don't have enough room to store larger paintings any more, since I moved into one flat with my husband 10 years ago. And there were years when my health issues kept me from starting larger projects, I wasn't feeling strong enough to do so. Now I do, and I have put my easel in place with a feeling of joy. Sorry to say that sewing and quilting at the moment is not quite my cup of tea. Something has changed, and I guess it's me.The painting I am working on has a story. Often I started my projects with preparing a painting board by applying some surface structure.

"Under the Ground Plan",
oils over paper relief, flash photo

In this case, I cut out stripes of heavy card material and glued then onto the board, shaping something like a ground plan, securing it by glueing more paper strips over the structure. Then I make an acrylic base layer and start painting.

This one has been standing there for years because I lost the plot. Time went by, and I made some undecided attempt to continue, but did not like it and painted it over.

"Under the Ground Plan",
oils over paper relief, detail

Now, I found a way to integrate the structure into my "Boulder" series. The boulders will probably become darker by being washed with more transparent layers, as soon as the paint allows them. The size of the painting is 27x12", the material is way too heavy.