My Woolly Experiment

I have just completed a new painting titled "the Arks of Shadow and Light." If you are familiar with my work, you know that I paint with encaustics and I create a considerable amount of texture during the painting process. Encaustic paint has the ability to build-up raised shapes above the surface. I also paint on cradled panels. Sometimes they are made of birch but recently I've been using a special absorbent primed cradled Masonite made specifically for encaustics. Painting on a hard surface instead of canvas has its benefits. In this case, it permitted me to think about the painting surface in new ways.

My painting process almost always begins with black and white thumbnail drawings. This painting was no exception. Out of about 40 sketches, I picked one of the simple concepts. The sketch contained dashed lines forming a vessel or ark shape (a theme of some of my recent work). I sketch with a needlepoint V5 Pilot pen in a sketchbook of heavy quality paper. I also envision the sequence of layers of color and their thickness as I sketch. This is important because I paint in both an additive and subtractive process. Encaustic paint can be scratched or carved to reveal the under layers of color.

It's the dashes that I want to focus on for this post. I got an idea how to create them – an experiment was required! I did not want to mold them out of wax and then apply them for a variety of technical reasons. Instead, I made a visit to JoAnn's Fabrics to buy yarn and a big needle. What an experience! Most yarn is acrylic and acrylic and encaustics are enemies. Well, I finally found some wool yarn (on sale) the kind you'll knit a fisherman's sweater with and a package of repair needles.

Back in the studio, I freely drew the two arks in pencil, one made of dashed lines and the other in a continuous line. I drilled small holes into the panel at each end of the dashed gestural lines and laced the yarn in and out. The pencil lines turned into heavy raised woolly lines ready for the mystery of painting. No matter how much advanced planning one takes there is a point where one must let go of preconceived ideas and just paint. Some painters begin at that point but I rarely do. However, the best paintings are those where you don't force the work and you listen and feel the paint. An analogy just occurred to me to illustrate this reality.

An abstract painter is like a experienced sea captain tossed in a violent storm. The changing sea conditions dictate how he steers the ship and how much power to use. If the captain sticks to his planned route, more than likely, he will capsize the ship.

In the bottom portion of the painting you'll notice a red line of paint. This was add while the sea was tossing the ship around. I laced a long strand of yarn, and as I applied paint, bent it to parallel the slightly curved shape of the vessel.

I know some people take interest in how paintings are created, while others just want to respond to the finished work. I'm of the group that always seem to ask, "how did they do that?" Of course, there is no answer to that question. The best we can hope for is a superficial level of insight into materials and technique.

I hope you like "The Arks of Shadow and Light".

Carey Corea "Arks of Shadow and Light" 

Mixed Media, Encaustics and Wool on Cradled Panel, 16"x16"