"Emergent Images"

"Dream Girl," 2019 Enamel wash and gesso on canvas, 7" x 10"
James Thatcher  2019  copyright

The diminutive “Dream Girl” begged for a larger version.  Replicating textures on a large scale is a recurring issue in the studio.  This was no exception and it has led to a new body of artwork.  

Using hay on a very wet surface would cause a paint wash to gather around the hay and would theoretically result in a frost-like pattern that might approximate that background texture.

Not so much.  But pouring more paint over that experiment created such an interesting result that I didn’t need the girl’s portrait anymore. 

"Dream"  2020  Enamel wash and alfalfa on canvas, 44" x 66"
James Thatcher  2020  copyright 

The question of how to get that frost-like texture continued to puzzle me.  The next attempt was crumpled paper with an added wash.  The way the wash gathered in the wrinkles created wonderful possibilities for free-style composing.  

All other ideas have been banished. 

Success caused me to prepare dozens of crumpled and washed papers to draw into during the coming days.  

Forty papers.

The “Emergent Images” series currently stands at 30 pieces which measure 7” x 10”.  There are a few additional quarter-sheet works.

"Emergent Image #3"  2020  Enamel wash and pencil on paper, 7" x 10"
James Thatcher  2020  copyright

"Emergent Image #10"  2020  Enamel wash and pencil on paper, 7" x 10"
James Thatcher  2020  copyright

"Emergent Image #16"  2020  Enamel wash and pencil on paper, 7" x 10"
James Thatcher  2020 copyright

I look forward to creating drawings using full sheets (22” x 30”) as this series moves forward.

https://jtnwdc.wixsite.com/jamesthatcherarts  

"Disarray"

I’ve chosen to paint this portrait on banana box liners because they’re so awful.  They are stained, crumpled, and gross.  They reflect the nastiness with which we serve the poor and are symbolic of the way we care for people in need.  

James Thatcher  Copyright  2018

This liner paper is the cheapest available.  They come out of the boxes so rumpled that I have to iron the paper to make it possible to use.

I choose to paint with primers instead of “artist colors” for similar reasons.  Gesso is not intended as a finished surface.  It is cheap, stark, and dry looking.  

Allowing the brown paper to show as an extra color follows the rationale of using rough materials used to depict a rough situation.

Filling in the painting according to plan, but then...

But the real moment of this project happened because of the brown paper.  The head's structure had become confusing. Where did the hair begin and forehead end?  

It was awkward so I decided to only use the four center panels of the face.  As I continued to work on this cropped center section I had to move a panel aside to keep paint from getting on it.  

BREAKTHROUGH!  It looked fascinating.  Then I added back several other panels crookedly which distorted the child’s face.  

Consider the awful reality of a young disrupted life and the people we’re creating.  Disintegrated, unstable, disorderly, chaotic…what was I thinking by lining up those panels so fastidiously in the first place? 

"Disarray", 2018, 84" x 60", Black & white gesso on banana box liners.
James Thatcher  Copyright  2018

Order is contrary to the form and content of this image.   This portrait became terribly expressive and more troubling by rearranging the pieces.   

Success came in a moment and the painting finished quickly.  Stay mindful.

http://jtnwdc.wixsite.com/jamesthatcherarts

Cut, Paste, and Scale

Not being able to visualize an art project motivates me as an artist.

I was mulling over different ways to render the hyperbolic paraboloid after creating 30-8” models in bamboo last winter. 

An early version, bamboo, 12"

Hyperbolic Paraboloid in a Cube, bamboo & acrylic paint, 8"

4 Hyperbolic Paraboloids in combination 

I liked the idea of building the artwork rather than simply continuing to render it by drawing or painting the image.  I settled on using drywall tape to create a piece.  It costs about a penny a foot and it won’t wrinkle when painted.  How would it weave together to build that torqued grid of the hyperbolic paraboloid?  

"Hyperbolic Paraboloid with Equations", acrylic on canvas, 14" x 7"  ©  James Thatcher  2016

It didn’t!  

It became a surprise braid instead. 

Drywall tape sketch, 48" x 24"

Here’s a brief time lapse video of an early take on the project.  Notice the shaped canvas in the background.  Ideas to extend the original concept are already underway. 

The braid image has some issues as a focus project because it’s simply too big at 48” across.  What size makes sense?  How would you present it?  Mounted on a plywood panel?  Pinned to the wall?  As shaped canvas paintings? 

Exploring the range of sizes from ¾ scale to 1/8 scale offered many possibilities but presentation was still an issue.  The 1/3 scale seems best as it yields a finished piece of 16” x 8” which can be effective as an individual unit.  Combining pieces still maintains a manageable size.

Scale comparison, full size to 1/3 scale

I can mount these to sheets of paper or float them in simple metal frames.  I could laminate them and suspend them because both sides are different.  

Front side of braid, gesso on drywall tape, 16" x 8"

Back side

4 braids in combination, gesso on drywall tape, 16" x 16"

Lots of Possibilities!

You know how caterers make spiraling stacks of napkins? It seemed like a simple presentation but that project held a surprise.  Here's a 30 second time lapse video of the effort (I really like the soundtrack):

http://jtnwdc.wixsite.com/jamesthatcherarts