Christmas 2012

I made these for my family as Christmas presents.  Since they all live 1,800 miles away, getting them there was tricky.  I painted all the canvases at home in Scottsdale, rolled them up in large poster tubes and checked them as luggage on the plane.  I had the stretcher bars delivered to my parents’ house and then stretched the canvas in Columbus.  It took a couple of days, but was definitely worth it.  I used Gallery Pro stretcher bars, but would not use them again.  Several of the bars were quite severely warped and I had to use them since they were all I had.

I wanted there to be a recurring theme for all of them, but for each one to also have its own individuality.  The theme I used was the Rorschach inkblots.  The idea behind the Rorschach inkblot test is to show an image which may or may not suggest a particular picture or idea, and then let the subject you are evaluating tell you what they see or what feelings they have as a result of looking at the inkblot.

The Rorschach inkblots are symmetric about a vertical axis, so I used this feature in the paintings.  Also, I used only a light coating of white paint and water (instead of gesso) to try to maintain a parchment-type feel to the raw canvas.  In order to imitate ink, I heavily-diluted the acrylic paint and pressed it hard into the canvas, ensuring that there was no thickness to the end result.

I had specific titles for these, but if I said what they were, it would defeat the purpose, right?

For Mike and Emma

Untitled2012, 34 x 54 inches, acrylic on canvas

In their living room
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For Daniel and Noelle

Untitled2012, 34 x 54 inches, acrylic on canvas

In their art room (with my adorable niece)
2014-10-09 16.32.58

 

 

For Hannah and Luke

Untitled2012, 34 x 54 inches, acrylic on canvas

In her bedroom
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For Holly and TJ

Untitled2012, 34 x 54 inches, acrylic on canvas

 

For Tobin and Lisa

Untitled2012, 34 x 54 inches, acrylic on canvas

In their living room
IMG_0125, cropped

 

 

For Joel and Rachel

Untitled2012, 34 x 54 inches, acrylic on canvas

In their lake house bedroom
IMG_0539

 

 

For Mom and Pop

Untitled2012, 34 x 54 inches, acrylic on canvas

In their sun room
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