Out of the corners have come some pieces of ill-used Foamula that have caused me to ask: “What was I thinking?’.  However they often still possess a pink reverso, open to a further assault. This new onslaught upon the as-yet unslaught upon seeks to answer some questions regarding the application of polyurethane varnish. Before, this varnish was apt to dissolve the Foamula and required a preliminary coat of water-based primer or paint on the surface to prevent that from happening. Since then, the composition of the varnish – at least the stuff I’m using – has changed. Unfortunately the new formulation is of a brownish color and more expensive. Fortunately it now appears not to dissolve the Foamula any longer. The old veteran boards are being pressed into service to see if this is truly so.

A design was drawn on the surface of this board and areas were blocked out with gesso, leaving the rest of the area bare. I then applied a hot air gun – the type used for removing paint. This caused the bare surface to shrink while the portions protected by the gesso remained relatively unaffected. I then tinted some varnish and spread it over the surface. It collected in the grooves and indentations with results that you can see. So far there have been no untoward effects.

In the interests of confirmation, I have tried a few more.

This was made the same way and with yellowed and silvered varnish. Something about it makes me think of a specimen seen under a microscope.

This one was painted over in black, so it’s not exactly an experiment. I then applied a layer of purplish/white varnish and, upon its hardening, a layer of varnish with gold.

Finally, and apropos more to the culling side of things, is this old painting of railings on a snowy day. It had already received a lot of attention over time and I chose to hit it  overall with whitened varnish as a final make-or-break gesture. The effect came out as creamlike, what with the brown cast of the vehicle, but it served to unify the composition somewhat. Not exactly a hit, but better.

In this instance I had some acrylic cutouts for a project that wasn’t working out. I melted them together with the result that a draped effect emerged with an enrichment of colors and surfaces. Roughly three feet across.

This represents a free wheeling approach where a number of elements came together. The mish was so mashed that, in the interests of some uniformity, I gave it a single color.  It’s interesting how the whole thing resembles welding in metal in that pieces can be tacked on and integrated through the judicious application of the flame.

The heat can bake the plastic somewhat like bread. There are some surfaces here that have assumed an alligatoring like something you might see at a bake shop.

An application of silver paint to unify the object.  Roughly four feet high. Making allowances for structural and handling issues there is no real limit to how large such assemblages can be made.

Overall a rather humble piece with spiky appendages composed of ceramic items left over from another time. This melting approach allows for the incorporation of a variety of elements – in this case stuff that has a personal history.

A nice gooey example.

An aspect of this that I rather like is the presence of  a certain subdued detail within a simple shape overall.

There’s a lot of room for more work to be done if not, necessarily, to be stored.

One might refer to these items as baked goods as they represent the application of fire to one form or another of plastic. The first image began as a sheet of expanded polystyrene that was scored with a knife and scorched with a propane weed burner. This process opened the score lines and created checkered patterns which guided my application of paint and varnish.

The next is an example  of slump molding where a sheet of plexiglass is laid over various objects. Heat from the propane burner causes the plastic to soften and assume the underlying shapes to a degree.  This and a few other pieces in this post employ an application of interference paint.

This is a further version of the  above composition.

Another slumped plastic object much worked over.

This rather tidy triptych started with the expanded polystyrene upon which a design was painted in tempera. The paint served as a barrier to the flame. I have used common mud to much the same effect.  The scored and scabbed surface was then covered in powder which filled crevices. This was fixed with a layer of varnish and highlighted with touches of interference paint.

At some point I had painted a checkered pattern on the back of a clear sheet. It was insipid, so I decided to put it to the torch. Some fallen branches served as the underlying forms.  Highlighted with interference paint. Note the variation in the surface caused by bubbling of the plastic. I had initially tried to avoid bubbling but came to embrace it as an enriching effect.

This is another example of a back painted panel that underwent the slump forming process.

Finally, a rather aggressive example of over painting.  I invited my son Bret to add the red additions.

I’m swimming in notions about how to create visual effects, whereas I should be advancing messages. The kit is there, now for more of a narrative.

On the one hand the chandeliers are happy being themselves: it’s the paint application technique that I’ve come up with that’s causing trouble. It produces results easily but, for now somewhat too randomly. I’m trying to harness it’s propensity for doing its own thing by finding things for it to do. Things that tend to be rendered in stone is one approach that I am playing with.

In this instance I have used black, white and green paint.  The result I’m getting reminds me of sections of  metamorphic rock. The technique is simple, but I’ll leave it to you to guess how it’s done.

Here is a triptych using the same method.

In previous posts I have described the use of heat to slump plexiglass over shapes. Here the slumping was done over a closed chain of oval links. I then applied repeated layers of black and white over the formed surface to get this heavily worked effect. Not surprisingly I have found that the complexity of the paint should be matched with a certain simplicity of design and the other way around.

This example below has a more involved underlying texture and I had to cut down on the paint patterns to get it to work.

I have been working on plastic chandeliers for the last while. This is a close up of one composed of clear yellow acrylic and mirrored rhombs.

Rearranged some bits and pieces of wooden chains. A bit of paint.

This is a closeup of a chandelier composed of a variety of components.

Lightness, malleability, relative strength and the ability to take paint: these factors figured the choice to work in this medium during cabin fever season.

A quest, in whatever medium, has been to find a decent relationship between color textures and chains as such. Chains that pull and drag things around tend to have layers of worn paint, revealing portions of the underlying metal. I discovered that I can produce a rough analogue of that by floating oil paints on water and dipping the chains into the oil/water combination. Patterns and visual qualities emerge as one continues this process and a sense of history develops.

As a matter of aesthetic choice I have tended to make the chain links rectangular and with flat sides – a design that is also easily fabricated.  In some instances I have made chains using opaque plastic in available colors and finishes. But more I have customized clear stock with a number of different results.

The first image shows a simple assemblage of links whose colors and textures are derived from interference paints which I squeeze between clear sheets, which are then pulled apart. Once dry, these sheets are glued to a wooden framework.

This chain is made up of colors and transparencies that have come my way.  The black link displays a beveling on the edges that I first thought super, but has turned out more or less superfluous.

Another view of the same piece. Like most chains, these enjoy some degree of freedom while made up of rigidly controlled units. I’m of two or more minds about this characteristic. The drape-ability is at its best in the mirrored chains where formal arrangements are almost lost in reflections.

In this series the links are square and around six to nine inches on a side.  This scale is something of a sweet spot in regard to the capabilities of my tools, the amount of materials required and handling and display of the product.

I’m lucky to have access to mirrored plastic. The image above is a heavily beveled chain of a thicker grade of mirrored stock, glued to the framework with solvent cement. The cement distresses the mirror finish – an effect that I like.

This is a merging of the distressed mirror chain and another put together with acrylic medium, which does not attack the finish and allows for a hard shine.

Another view of the same combined chains.

Who knows how long this love affair with dazzle and flash will last. In earlier posts I have talked about what I see as many meanings and dimensions in the chain motif and I am hoping that the look that is being generated here will eventually lead to a sense of depth that is more than of the surface alone.