I’ve arranged my postcards, collected photos, fliers, map etc. from the Berlin trip on the studio wall. Things that I like and that will act as inspiration. The photos I took myself so far only exist in digital form.
The process of preparing the gesso boards for painting. It sure takes time, as my fellow artists would testify. For the uninitiated, gesso is a traditional ground created for oil painting. It is made by mixing French chalk and white pigment with a rabbit skin glue and hot water solution. Since I’ve never quite liked the idea of boiling my favourite animal to make glue I am currently using a synthetic rabbit skin glue imitation. The mixture needs to reach a certain consistency and is then brushed onto board in thin layers, and sanded inbetween. College students may challenge each other to who makes the smoothest surface. At least we did at some stage.
An old Sandmännchen toy, a picture of porcelain owls, a DDR “Wunder Tute” containing a 3D jigsaw in the shape of a bear, which took me and another person who managed to built one each, about 15 minutes to figure out. Which calls to question how many 5 year olds in the former DDR ever managed to build the Berlin bear without help from their parents! It’s all there on the wall.
**Disclaimer- no animals were harmed in the making of these paintings.**
I’m so glad you didn’t boil any rabbits! I love your studio. I would love to hang out with you for about three weeks. You are a fearless, intrepid traveler. I want to backpack across Ireland. My husband says I will walk alone, lol! Looking forward to seeing your finished works.