Category: Mixed Media

Sticky Booger Framing

A few months ago I finished this triptych, now called “GOING GOING GONE”, but it sat around in the studio waiting for framing inspiration. Well, that inspiration finally showed up in the form of cork foam board, an orphaned 12×26″ frame, and a whole lot of JB Weld epoxy glue.

If you’re interested in the details of this artwork, follow the link to the post in the above paragraph. Otherwise, read on to learn about the challenging world of custom framing, at home, with nary a YouTube DIY video to be had.

Challenge #1: How does one attach wood blocks to a frame without backing? I was headed down the path of cutting a custom wood back, but then I stumbled across a 1/4” thick foam board while looking for balsa wood as a lighter alternative to plywood. I also happen to have a matt cutter, which is much more finger friendly than my rotary saw, which is buried somewhere in the garage.

Challenge #2: How to attach foam board to frame? Also known as “glue or screw?” I was leaning screws, but as I was digging through my massive drawer of miscellaneous art crap, I came across a tube of JB Weld, an epoxy glue that’s stickier than a wet booger. Despite having been used once in the past, probably more than 3 years ago, it still worked!

Challenge #3: What was the best way to affix the wood blocks to the newly added foam core backing? See aforementioned sticky booger solution. But, the trickiest part was ensuring the 3 blocks, all of which are different sizes, were lined up properly. I’m positive there’s a better way to do this, but I opted to use a center string and blue tape at right angles to ensure the blocks were glued in the right spot.

Surprisingly, it worked out! I used the cork side of the foam board so I didn’t have to paint the white side, and I kinda liked the light brown coloring, which looked like a porter or amber beer. The best part, which my wife pointed out, was that by using the cork side for the backing, it was similar to a coaster bottom… like for a cold pint of beer… get it?

This piece will likely be added to my solo show, “Something for Everyone”, at Kerbey Lane Cafe in San Marcos, Texas, available for the reasonable price of 10 cases of Guinness or (512) Pecan Porter.

Thanks for reading!

by Categories: Art Tips, Mixed Media, still lifeTags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Disappearing Pint

GOING, GOING, GONE! | Triptych | 10×16” | Mixed Media on Wood

Sometimes things don’t go to plan. Bob Ross had a phrase for this in the art world, “happy accidents”. What dear ol’ Bob didn’t clarify was that sometimes the plan goes to shit before the painting begins! 

GOING, GOING, GONE was supposed to be 3 square panels of equal size, the only progression being the artwork itself. However, before planning the composition I hadn’t verified the existence of 3 identical panels in my studio… AFTER having painted the middle panel, i.e. “GOING”. So rather than being the patient, pragmatic person who pauses the artistic process and acquires 2 additional identical panels before proceeding, I searched my studio for the next best option! It’s hard to tamp down unbridled excitement for starting a piece of art, so I’ll give myself a little break in that I was ready to get this thing moving without delay! 

Turns out I was having a Bob Ross moment. The triptych, while unconventional, proved to be very effective in terms of turning your expectations upside down. Specifically, the pint of beer is drunk down over 3 stages, whilst the side of the panels increases. I’m sure the experience isn’t universal, but my senses get upended a little as I digest the 3 panels and have to do a double take because the detail, values, and saturation decrease as the panels dramatically increase in size. I hope it has the same effect for you, otherwise it might be a little boring. 

As to the mixed media approach, I simply wanted to build on my recent foray into this technique. I suppose this could be done quite effectively with standard oil painting, but there’s something fundamentally different with the texture and chalky finish of spackle and acrylic paint that makes these artworks stand out from a crowd. That said, I think these pieces are like saltillo tile – you either love it or hate it – but either way you can appreciate its unique nature. 

Lastly, I’m excited to frame this triptych, although I have no idea how I’m going to do it. However, I do like the vertical layout as done in the photo, which is a little different spin on the typical triptych layout, but it also forms the shape of a pint glass… so there’s that.

Stay tuned for the final decision. Perhaps it’s a painting you’d like on your wall? 

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #beer #pint #mixedmedia #impasto #stilllife

by Categories: Mixed Media, still lifeTags: , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

“IMPRESSIONS” GROUP SHOW OPENING

I’m very excited to be included in a new exhibition called “IMPRESSIONS: Paintings by the artists of Plein Air Austin”, happening at The Hive in Bee Caves, TX. This show celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Impressionist painters. If you don’t know much about the Impressionists, even if you don’t like the style (weirdo!), the history is fascinating. 

In short, the movement, as it were, was actually facilitated by an American painter, John Rand, who in 1841 invented… wait for it… paint in a tube! Over the following years, some artists started to take their hobby outdoors (thanks to their tubes of paint) and began capturing the scenes of the world around them, a major break from compositional structures of the time, and emphasizing light and color to give a sense of place. 

The debut party for the Impressionists is what’s marked as the anniversary, which occurred in 1874 in Paris at a show called “The Cooperative and Anonymous Association of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers”. This group of arty-farty rebels included some of the (now) most recognizable names of the art world, including Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas and Cézanne. 

One final fun fact. The term “Impressionists” was initially an insulting critique from the press, who hated the style, calling one of Monet’s paintings “Impression, Sunrise” and comparing it to wallpaper. 

Back to the opening, where 6 of my pieces will be included in this fantastic group show of plein air works. Opening reception will be Saturday, April 6th, 2-4pm. Swing by if you’re so inclined and meet some artists who love the outdoors and have created some amazeballs artwork! Let me know if you plan to drop by and I’ll keep an eye out for you. 

COMMONS FORD RANCH BARN | Oil on Board | 9×12″ 
FISHERMANS POINT | Oil on Board | 9×12″ 
BREAKWATER MARINA | Oil on Canvas Board | 8×10″ 
SPRING POINT LIGHTHOUSE 1 | Oil on Canvas Board | 9×12″
SPRING POINT LIGHTHOUSE 2 | Mixed Media on Board | 10×8″ 
GREENWICH VIEW | Oil on Canvas | 20×16″ 
6 Paintings in IMPRESSIONS Show

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #bernabplanalp #pleinair #pleinairaustin #commonsfordranch #getoutside #hikeaustin #austinparksfdn #beecavearts #impressionism #impressionists #texasart #sprintpointlighthouse

by Categories: Events, Landscapes, Mixed Media, plein air, SeascapesTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Stick Won’t Throw Itself

ZIP TOOT | Mixed Media on Board | 8×10”

Painting and the creative process has always been a zen-zone for me, even on days when the paint just won’t line up right! When life decides to punch you in the face, painting can be calming, even downright cathartic.   

Our beloved pup, Zip – aka “Zippy”, “Zipster”, “Zipper”, “Toot”, “The Pip” and dozens of other nicknames – took her trip to the Rainbow Bridge a couple months ago. She was a HUGE personality, the boss of any space she occupied, and a precious family member who will be forever in our hearts. She loved food, playing ball, car rides, hikes, and she even enjoyed the occasional trip with me into the landscape to paint “en plein air”. But more than anything in the world, she loved to swim, especially if a stick was involved. ZIP TOOT is a nod to her larger than life personality doing what she loved more than anything else.  

As to the artwork itself, this is another foray with spackle, but leveraging the unique opportunity to create textures that simply can’t be done in oil paint – at least not by me. The spackle was laid down in multiple layers, oftentimes so thick that it created a lot of cracking when it dried, which actually played well with the subject matter. Once the shape of the tail was done, I used a dark gray layer (almost black) as the base, then textured in lighter grays and whites. The effect is to give the impression of various hair colors intermixed, even in the areas that are dominated by black or white. Zip was a spotty dog, so getting this right was tricky, but manipulating the spackle while it was still soft made for an effective outcome. 

The final step was going back in with acrylic paint to make the entire tail look more vibrant, which is a weird comment given we’re dealing with black, white and grays. The background is intended to represent her swimming days, the last of which were on Lake Austin at a boat ramp next to Mozart’s Coffee. If you look closely you can see some blue glittery bits splashed around the tip of her tail, reminding me of her need to shake thoroughly between throws and her all-out rush back into the water to recover her favorite stick. 

Go play with your dog cuz the stick won’t throw itself.

RIP Zip

The Zip!
Layer 1 – Spackle
Layer 2 – Spackle + Cracks
Texture!
Shake Effect
ZIP TOOT
ZIP TOOT

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #bernabplanalp #zip #mozartscoffee #rainbowbridge #fetch #mixedmedia #dogswimming 

by Categories: Mixed Media, RescuedTags: , , , , , 5 Comments

Bob Ross Goes Skiing

FRESH TRACKS | Mixed Media on Canvas Panel | 5×7”


This is project #2 from the aforementioned Textured Painting workshop at The Contemporary at Laguna Gloria. This was a real Bob Ross experience, as my original plan was to simply experiment with texture and some pottery tools to see how they manipulated the joint compound, as well as experiment on canvas board with my newfound medium. Lo and behold, I discovered ski tracks in the snow – an abstract painting exploration turned “real” composition.

The coloring of the snow is actually tinged with yellow and muted with purple, which is very hard to see in the photos. The first step was to paint the canvas panel all black, let it dry, then cover it with the off-white spackle. The pottery tool was some kind of metal prong with a very small, circular tip. Dragging this tool through the soft spackle exposed the black board underneath, sometimes closing back up over itself in the thicker sections, much like skiing through fresh snow. 

On day 2, after the initial spackle had dried, using a water spritzer, I applied some kind of sparkly dust provided in the instructor’s box of goodies, which created a very cool reflective effect, like sun on snow. The last step was to apply a sky-blue acrylic mix to some of the wider tracks, which added color and the effect of the sky reflected in the snow. 

Overall, I’m very happy with this abstract turned ski tracks realism piece. I think it would be a very marketable piece, too, at a larger size in a black frame for someone who loves skiing. Thank you, Bob Ross!

Virtual Frame
Fresh Tracks Zoom
Texture
Texture, Sparkles, and Blues

artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #contemporaryart #steamboatsprings #skicolorado #bernabplanalp #getoutside #contemporaryatx #texturedpainting  #acrylics #mixedmedia #bobross #happyaccident

by Categories: Abstract, Landscapes, Mixed MediaTags: , , , , 4 Comments