SKIP TO THE END FOR THE BIRTHDAY GIFTS!!
Last year at this time, I was painting on toilet paper.
And it was much more difficult than I expected. Toilet paper becomes a wet mess when moistened, a gooey spit ball. I tried several different brands and the one that worked best for me was a quilted two ply. I applied gesso, VERY carefully to several sheets, several layers on both sides. Even prepared, the surface sucked up the paint and dulled down every brush stroke. It was quite a process. It would have been easier to make my own paper.
Yet I did it all with a silly grin.
It would probably not have occurred to me to paint on such flimsy sheets if not for the Small Wonders Detroit 2020 show.
I’ve written previously about this gem of an art show, tiny works from dozens of creators. (https://www.jamesfrederickleach.com/2021/03/10/look-again-listen-again-mercredi-express-3/) As many other art events closed down completely for 2020, Small Wonders Detroit pivoted during the year of the Miasma to a virtual on-line show, which was a brave effort. Then, as the full effect of COVID became apparent, the call for entries shifted to become very virus-centered. Work could be on face masks or toilet paper rolls or single sheets of toilet paper. In case you’ve forgotten, folks hoarded toilet paper in the opening weeks of the coronavirus shutdown. Turning such precious squares into art was delightful whimsy.
Participating in this show kept me going creatively. I had to look at painting and at materials in a different light. I had to turn something that was purely and perfectly discardable into something that was worthy of attention. The lockdown was a dark time for many people and it stirred up lots of fears. And this project kept me in the studio.
I wanted an image that would rise to the challenge of the revised requirements. I LOVE masks of all kinds so I was tempted to do something on a sanitary mask. I kept gravitating to the utter ABSURDITY of painting on toilet paper and I eventually decided to paint an image of the most ANTI-sanitary mask I could imagine; the Renaissance commedia dell’arte. They only protect wearers from identification, not infection. I suspected it would be quite a challenge so I prepped MANY more sheets than I finally used and I made twice as many paintings as I could submit so I could select the ones that worked the best. All three were accepted.
These silly discardable artworks are precious to me. They hang in my Studio right above my drafting table. They got me through dark times and though discardable, they are not for sale. |
