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Do or Die: We had purchased a new apartment and I was wanting to do something special for the entry, so I decided to do a HUGE 8’ x 6’ painting… this was definitely going to prove to be one of my biggest challenges. The only area big enough for me to attempt this was in the middle of the construction zone of the new apartment. It made sense to paint it in the apartment we were remodeling, with its stripped concrete floors and the beaten up walls that were still in need of new plaster and paint… it was perfect… I could make a HUGE mess and it didn’t matter.
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Sallie-Anne Swift
Visual Language contemporary fine art
VLJanuary 2015 Volume 4 No. 1
VL
VL
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Sallie-Anne SwiftVL
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Sallie-Anne Swift
VL Sallie-Anne Swift
We had purchased a new apartment and I was wanting to do something special for the entry, so I decid-ed to do a HUGE 8’ x 6’ painting… this was definitely going to prove to be one of my biggest challenges.
The only area big enough for me to attempt this was in the middle of the construction zone of the new apartment. It made sense to paint it in the apartment we were remodeling, with its stripped concrete floors and the beaten up walls that were still in need of new plaster and paint… it was perfect… I could make a HUGE mess and it didn’t matter.
I found a fabulous stretched canvas supplier in Orange County (artscanvasonline.com) and ordered my 8’ x 6’ deep edge stretched canvas.
Do or Die... Undertaking a 3D extra large format painting.
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My New Studio
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Sallie-Anne Swift
Arrival of the Canvas
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To my sheer delight it was delivered to me the very next day, I was not expecting such a quick delivery service! I gazed at the blank canvas before me for hours, contemplating what I was going to paint. It had to be something special, this would be the largest 3D painting I had ever attempted. Yes I did say 3D, these are my newest creation and something I had given a lot of thought too. At this point the largest I had done of these 3D paintings was a 30” x 40”. Was I ready to attempt one this big… well why not, “you’ll never know unless you give it a go” and I would give this my best shot! I had spent a lot of time testing my process, and resourcing materials, I want my work to be UV light protective and I will only use materials with longevity, this is extremely important to me as an artist because I want my work to last longer than a lifetime.
And so it begins… I wait until the weekend when the tradesmen aren’t there and lean my canvas against the dirty wall, starting on the texture for the canvas first. This always acts as a guide for my paintings, a little like a sketch. I feel a little under pressure to get as much done as possible before the workmen return on Monday morning so the following day I begin painting. When I pack up my paint and wash my brushes and take a long look at my painting, I am disappointed, it’s not quite what I had planned. I wait until the following weekend and then paint over the top of it with white gesso so I can start again.
I have to admit I was feeling a little overwhelmed at this stage, thinking that this painting might get the better of me, but I felt very determined. And so 2 weeks later I was back in front of my huge canvas painting over the top of my disappointment. By the end of the weekend I was satisfied that I had made a good base painting and so I drew up a plan (to scale) and ordered an 8’ x 6’ x .25” thick piece of acrylic with 22 holes to be drilled at exact points (as marked on my plan). The acrylic was the most expensive part of this painting… I had to make this work now after spending so much money on materials!
Applying Texture
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Sallie-Anne Swift
Applying Texture
First Layer of Acrylic
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Second Layer of Acrylic
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We were off on holidays for five weeks and the acrylic would arrive during this time so I planned on finishing upon our return. This gave me more time to plan and think about the next layer that would be painted (in the reverse) of the base painting on the canvas. I am so inspired by the ocean and our new home looks straight out over the Pacific Ocean so this would be my inspiration for my painting.
My acrylic had arrived when we returned and it was extremely heavy and awkward to maneuver, it required help to get this into a position where I could paint comfortably and reach every inch of it. I decided to place it on top of the canvas, in the middle of the living room floor, not something I would normally do, as I like to look at the base painting while I paint the reverse of it. So now I would be painting blind and simply guess-ing where things where but I wanted to protect our new floorboards. I placed plastic under and around the canvas and plenty of drop sheets to protect the new floors, took a deep breath and began mixing my paint, ink and epoxy resin. This preparation is vital to the outcome and I like to work quickly once I start with this so I have to be very well organized before I start.
Attacking the Acrylic
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I am ready and I start applying my combination of mix-tures onto the surface of the acrylic, I’m pretty much guessing where I think everything should go, I know the look I want to achieve but I am so nervous, I cannot afford to mess up this piece of acrylic, it cost so much! I am able to walk right around the acrylic laying flat on the floor and this helped me get the perspective right. I can’t work fast enough, my mixtures where getting thick and tacky but I am almost done. I am not sure if there is enough paint on this piece and I am concerned my brush strokes are not big enough for this size can-vas. I remember standing back and thinking I wish I had an old broom to use for a brush. But as it turns out I needn’t have worried, I turned on the ceiling fan above it, made sure all the doors where closed (as it must be in a dust free environment) and walked out the door leaving it to dry.
I don’t think I slept much that night. I had to wait 24 hours before it would be touch dry and dry enough to move, it seemed a very long 24 hours. Finally it was dry enough to move and with the help of my willing husband we managed to move it in front of the canvas that it would sit above, and against the wall it would hang on. I was thrilled when I saw the two pieces to-gether, it was even better than I had imagined. I stayed up late that night putting it together with the stainless steel standoffs, all 22 of them. Again I had to be ex-tremely accurate where I drilled my holes to accom-modate the standoffs, they had to line up exactly and there was no room for error.
Working on the Acrylic
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Sallie-Anne Swift
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Sallie-Anne Swift
Finally it was together and I was looking at the finished piece, it would still take another 24 hours to be completely dry but it was done and ready to hang. Ooo.. hang? This was one ex-tremely heavy painting and I hadn’t given much thought to how I was going to hang it. I found some fabulous dry wall hooks on amazon.com that would hold 200 lb each – perfect! When the tradesmen arrived for work on Monday morn-ing they could hang this for me. It took 5 men to hang this painting but it’s up and in it’s place and every time I walk in through the front door, I marvel at the sight of it and think to myself… I did that and I feel so proud that I achieved this goal, this enormous 3D painting looks fabulous and the lighting makes all the difference in the world.
For years I would transform my dining room into a studio, pushing the table and chairs to the side, throwing down drop cloths to cover the floors and then setting up my portable easel on wheels and my portable cart that housed my paint, it would quickly became my work area. It’s no wonder I would get depressed when we were having dinner guests. This meant packing away everything and moving it all into a storage unit so the room could once again resemble a place where we could entertain. I’ve lost count how many times I have done this!
Eleven months of preparation, designing and planning the remodel of our new apartment will finally see me in my own dedicated studio… YIPPIE! I’m still pinching myself! It is a home studio, with plenty of space (even enough room for an 8’ x 6’ painting and plenty of natural light with breathtaking views that stretch across the city to the mountains that are soon to have snow capped peaks on them. No more packing away my paints and brushes… I am one very lucky and very happy artist!
Hanging the Painting
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Three Dimensional
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Finished Studio
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Finished 3-D Painting
PHOTO ‘ Memories’ Acrylic on masonite. (20 X 16 inches)
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