Transformation: Inspired by Jay DeFeo

Jay DeFeo, The Rose, 1958-1966

                                                                                                                  

      The study of masterpieces necessarily involves some consensus about who the masters are or were.  In my first year of college in the late 70s, the year-long survey course in art history exposed me to perhaps three female artists - Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, and Georgia O’Keefe.  The museums I visited, and the art history books I studied, displayed a nearly unbroken line of male artists stretching back through time.  It pains me now to realize how seldom I questioned that dominance.
    Two unrelated events this summer turned me around.  The first was a visit to the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC on day trip in July to meet some good friends for lunch.  We’d hoped to walk the High Line after lunch but it was so infernally hot we couldn’t bear the thought of it - so instead we went to the Whitney, which is at the bottom of the High Line, and which would be a good starting point if it cooled off enough later to take a stroll.  While in the museum we were mostly occupied with chatting and
catching up, but at one point I found myself in front of a massive work that was new to me.  This was The Rose, by Jay DeFeo, a monumental painting with incredible dimensionality and texture.  Arresting, to say the least.
    The second event was attending a lecture/book talk at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, New York about the book Ninth Street Women, by Mary Gabriel.  This prodigious tome chronicles the work and experiences of Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan,

Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler - women who were in at the dawn of the New York abstract expressionist movement after WWII.  They were there along with the male artists whose voices and visions always insisted on the lion’s share of attention, (deserved or not), sharing gallery space with Jackson Pollock, William de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Motherwell, and other rising stars of the New York scene.   It wasn’t until I got home from the book talk that these two events converged to bring me to my Master Piece for this column.
    I was chagrined and angry about the gap in my art education that Ninth Street Women illuminated for me.  Down the Google rabbit hole I went, learning more and more about the female artists of the post-war era who contributed so much to the world of abstract art, and who had to fight so hard for recognition.   Across the country from New York, the vibrant Beat scene of San Francisco brought together poets, painters, and musicians for an exchange of exciting ideas and innovations.  Jay DeFeo was one of those vibrant creatives.
    Her work The Rose, which I encountered that day at the Whitney, took her seven years to complete - it is an accretion of paint and mica, layer upon layer, that she carved into, making it, in her words, “a marriage between painting and sculpture.”  At 11 feet tall and almost two thousand pounds, it was so large that one exterior wall of her apartment had to be opened up in order to extract it.  The Rose was first exhibited in 1969 at the San Francisco Art Institute, and eventually acquired by the Whitney in 1995.  The surface is highly textured, both dark and glittery.  During the seven years she labored on this painting, she developed a habit of sticking her paintbrush in her mouth, gripping it with her teeth while she used her hands to manipulate the surface.  As a consequence of repeatedly chewing down on the paint-laden brush, she developed gum disease and even lost some of her teeth. 

Jay DeFeo working in her San Francisco apartment, with The Rose in the background

    Which brings us to her painting, Crescent Bridge I.  These pale, rock-like forms, smooth and polished, seem to rise out of the white of the paper, with dark shadows or reflections beneath them.  It seems both abstract and realistic, and also deeply mysterious.  Where does it lead? Why does it stop?  What kind of a bridge is it? 

Jay DeFeo, Crescent Bridge I, 1970-1972, Whitney Museum of American Art

Well, as it turns out, it is her dental bridge, which replaced the teeth she lost working on The Rose.  Crescent Bridge II makes it more explicit.  Now we can see they are teeth.   Jay DeFeo also made extensive use of photography in her later work, making dramatic photos of her own paintings as well as objects in her studio that stood alone as separate works. 

Jay DeFeo, Crescent Bridge II, 1970-1972, Whitney Museum of American Art

    As the project for this column I decided to pay tribute to both The Rose, and Crescent Bridge I, by creating a photo series of a dimensional work I call Archipelago.  I used just one stencil for this - Stone Stack, by Jane Monteith L929.  This is a 9x12 stencil but I decided to use a 6x6 square cradled panel (a repurposed wall decor piece from the craft store).  I suspected this project could end up being heavy, so I needed a sturdy substrate.  I had already given the panel one coat of gesso; now I needed to lay out the stencil to fit, and tape over the shapes that I didn’t want to use as part of the composition.  This stencil comes still attached to its mylar matrix so you can carefully cut it loose and use the outline as a mask.  I needed to keep it all intact, so that I could build volume inside the openings and keep the rest of the surface clean.  To build up the “islands” of my archipelago I used joint compound in multiple layers, removing the stencil each time to let the compound cure.  After the islands were as big as I wanted them to be, and had dried, I very carefully sanded them smooth to mimic the smooth teeth of Crescent Bridge I, and then applied several coats of gesso thinned with water to give it all a smooth, enamel appearance.  I used gesso rather than paint, so there would be enough tooth (no pun intended) to hold wax, graphite, and gold leaf.  I’ve used encaustic before for a project in this Master Pieces series and I knew encaustic medium would give me exactly the smoothness and ivory color I wanted.
    As usual, the process of painting with melted wax presented its own challenges, especially as melting wax wants to flow downward as it is reheated.  The mounds of gessoed joint compound slowly began to assume the abstract organic forms I was going for. I dusted powdered graphite around the bottom of each island, and then added a patchy strip of gold leaf just above the “water line.”  I then photographed the work from a few different angles to find the ones I liked best, and treated them to some digital editing with the Distressed_FX Pro app.  

process step 1

process step 2 or 3...

another view of the Archipelago before sanding

After sanding and several coats of thinned gesso

the archipelago shown with wax, graphite, and gold leaf

Archipelago I

Archipelago II

Archipelago III

Archipelago IV

Archipelago V

    This project took quite a long time.  There was considerable amount of drying time for the thick mounds of joint compound. I didn’t try to speed up the process with a heat gun, because I was worried it might lead to cracking.  Each coat of watered-down gesso took half a day to cure completely, and of course applying multiple layers of wax requires heating up and cooling off periods (as well as periods of walking away in a fit of anxious frustration).  Painting with powdered graphite and applying gold leaf were finicky and tense - it’s hard to undo when working on wax!  And finally, the photographing and digital editing is a process that can go on and on, endlessly trying out different angles, lighting, formats, filters, and layering effects.  With each stage of the long process, the piece underwent transformations of shape, size, texture, hue, tone, and weight, from a two dimensional plane to a three dimensional sculpture back to two-dimensional photos in electronic form.  The model itself is a very physical thing, inviting touch, whereas the digital image is virtual and untouchable.  The effects of time and transformation are the lessons I learned from Jay DeFeo while working on this, and they are lessons I am grateful for.
    
    
    Learn more about Jay DeFeo at The Jay DeFeo Foundation 

Jane Monteith Stone Stack L929

Little Village Home Decor Piece - by Claudia

Hi, servus and thanks so much for stopping by! Claudia here today as it's my turn again to share some artsy inspiration with you and - despite my love for everything weathered, textured or grungy (actually I can't do anything else...somehow everything I create turns towards at least one of these without me even aiming for it) - this project turned out almost clean and simple...well, as clean and simple as a grunge-lovin' girl like me can get. There's still a grunge feel to it though I think - and the use of thick cardboard, one wooden house shaped block and a wooden tray as a base also adds cool texture - even though it is rather subtle. 

 

My husband and I have just bought a house in the countryside and it has come as quite a surprise to us that we found one that we truly love that fast and in a spot we couldn't wish for to be any better! We had always planned (or hoped) to spend his retirement in the country with our beloved mountains, forests and lakes nearby - and now our dream has come true...which makes me feel utterly blessed and thankful - and happy of course! 

The project was done during the hard time of waiting for the seller to accept our bid. I tried to not think too much of the house (in case some competitor would snatch it away) - but that of course was almost impossible - somehow I just found myself over and over again thinking and dreaming of it. So I decided to put my "house-thinking" into houses right in front of my nose and create a home-decor piece in industrial-grungy style. Either I was going to put it up in our new home soon...or at least I had spent some relaxed time distracted from the stressful thoughts and insecurity. A kind of win-win situation ;) 

The style of my project was inspired by the many beautiful concrete home decor pieces and I wanted my houses to look as if they were cast from concrete - kind of massive, with simple straight lines and shapes. And I wanted the base to look as if it was done from concrete, too. So I went for colours that all have warm grey and grungy beige and white tones. The use of rough cord and an old book page for the clothes line adds even more texture and interest to the project. 

My aim was to have the designs from the used stencils to be the stars - so there was another reason to keep the shapes of the houses and clothes as simple and straight as possible. 

I've used the "Tiny Houses" Sizzix die to cut my houses from thick cardboard leftovers from packaging. The picture also shows the balsa wood tray (looted from the sales section of a home decor store) that was going to be the base for my village scene (in the upper left corner). 

I also like to use little wood houses (also from the home decor store's sales sections) - the grey one became the largest house in the village - the other houses were all done using the cutting die. 

As the die cuts give projecting roofs...

...I shortened these so their ends lined up with the houses' edges. Remember - simple, straight lines! 

StencilGirl stencils used: 

- Building Perspective Italy - designed by Chris Cozen

- Gaol Doorways - designed by Tina Walker

- Totally Triangular - designed by Wendy Aikin

- 1700s Building Stencil - designed by Carolyn Dube

- Large Hall Stencil - designed by Mary Beth Shaw

But first I primed the die cut house parts using DecoArt Americana and Americana multi-surface satin paints Lamp Black, Charcoal Grey, Zinc, Pewter, Cotton Ball, Mushroom and Dolphin. 

Once that had dried I used the same colours (contrasting the ones used before on each house) with the stencils. The paint was applied using a cosmetic sponge. 

I love how beautiful the awesome stencil designs look on the house shapes! 

Time to assemble the houses! I've used Tacky Glue this time as it dries really fast. 

The wood tray was flipped over to form the "faux concrete base" and painted with DecoArt Chalky Finish paint "relic". 

All I needed to finish off my little village was some laundry for the clothes line. I cut that free hand from an old dictionary page. 

Again I used Tacky Glue to fix the clothes to the (thin packaging cord) line. 

Done!

With my additional new home in the countryside (and close to the beloved lake since my childhood days) I will have both - the pleasures and drive of the lively city of Vienna and the stillness and beauty of nature in one of Austria's loveliest holiday spots! I am sure commuting will be quite a challenge at first but also a great adventure - and I will always be remembered of these exciting times and of how blessed we are when looking at my home decor piece. :) 

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

StencilGirl® Steampunk Fish Sculpture by Marge Taylor

Hello! Marge Taylor here, and I am delighted to share a recent project with you!

Like many artists, I’ve bought all sorts of supplies over the years, some of which got tucked away to languish on a shelf. I realized I had some things for years and recently made a resolution to try and use some of these supplies. I had purchased the wooden fish years ago and don’t even recall my initial plan for it. After it resurfaced, I contemplated several possibilities. I also had supplies I had picked up over time with the vague idea of doing a steampunk project someday, so I decided to do a steampunk fish.

Materials used: Unpainted wooden fish

                          Paint primer and assorted acrylic paint

                          Liquitex Flexible Modeling Paste

                          Craft foam sheet

                          Metallic seed beads

                          Assorted metal gears

                          Liquid Fusion adhesive

                          StencilGirl® stencils

I sanded any rough spots on the fish and applied a coat of primer and a coat of metallic paint.

I wanted the fins to have texture, so I applied a thin coat of flexible modeling paste to the fins.

I used a craft stick and a comb to etch out fin lines.

I decided I wanted a raised panel on the fish back to contribute to the steampunk look, so I cut a strip of craft foam and glued it to the back. I painted the entire surface in a neutral metallic color.

I washed a thin coat of green paint along the back and belly to give the fish some color.

I sponged paint on the back panel in several grey tones to give an industrial look.

I lined up the Circles Layer Me Stencil on the spine and painted a line of circles, then lined up and added the coordinating smaller circles.

I put a line of paint dots along the edges using a paint brush handle. 

I glued a metallic bead in the center of each circle.

This gave the look of bolts and rivets that steampunk requires.

I shifted to the sides of the fish and used the Connected Eyes Layer Me Stencil to give the look of scales. I added some small circles from the Circles Layer Me stencil along the belly. I decided the Border Circles Stencil could be adapted to give the look of gears. I placed them along the back spine and stenciled them in. I added hand painted circles to them.

I had a collection of gears I was able to glue to the sides. I used an adhesive called Liquid Fusion, which works on non-permeable surfaces. I used a combination of gears and a flat back bead for the eye.

I hung the fish. I was happy that I was able to achieve a steampunk look with stencils that could be used in many other ways. I was also thrilled to finally use some supplies I had on hand. This was my first time using the flexible modeling paste, and I found it easy to use with excellent results. I will definitely use it again.

Thanks for checking out my project! Come visit me!

Marge Taylor

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Guest Designer: Vicki Evans

Hi, Everyone! Vicki Evans here to share my latest artwork using StencilGirl® Products!

Three holes were drilled into a 5 by 10 inch cradled panel (these will later house the pressure fit tabs on the screen vent caps). 

Rae Missigman's Pixels stencil was cut to create an open edge, and then grit paste applied though the stencil creating an all over base texture.  Once dry, layers of brushed pewter and ground espresso paint were applied to the entire panel; areas were then dabbed with gunmetal mixative.

Crackle paste was applied over a modest portion of the panel and left to dry (crack); grey rust effects paste was applied to the non-crackled areas and sprayed heavily with water to run into the cracked areas as well as settle in the recessed areas of the pixel stencil; once dry, more gunmetal mixative was applied to re-highlight the pixels and the cracked surface was painted with a coat of distress mustard seed paint.

Lines were marked on Carolyn Dube's Vintage Typewriter Numbers stencil to better register the numbers along the panel’s edge. Each of the number was stenciled with white gesso, then tumbled glass paint, once dried they rubbed with steel wool and out lined with a white linen paint pen.

Edge details are stamped in black paint using the polygon slashes (air mail border) from the correspondence stamp set and rubbed with steel wool.

All three circles from Seth Apter's 3 Ring stencil were used independently to create the stylized ‘biohazard’ symbol.  The first stenciling of each circle was with black gesso, where it was allowed to seep under the stencil edges, before the gesso dried it is misted with water and blotted to create an uneven drop-shadow; this was then outlined with a black marble paint pen.

The same circles are masked individually (again) and stenciled, slightly offset to the drop-shadow, using a posca #2 yellow paint (brush) pen, this time keeping all the details of the rings as crisp as possible (it took two coats to appear solid over the black); and then rubbed with steel wool.

The flanges are chipboard that was cut using Tim Holtz’s Industrial steel rule die; hex fasteners were glued in with collage medium and finished using the same products and layering of those used on the panel.  The screen caps were brushed with grey rust effects paste and pushed into place on the panel; the flanges were glued down, framing the screen caps.

Final layers of rust and grunge come from layer of water and alcohol inks.  The panel is sprayed with water, alcohol inks are dropped on the watery surface and then misted with water again and left to air-dry.  This step was repeated many times, working in small areas at a time alternating between the rust and the mushroom colors.

Mini lights were coiled to fit into the holes exposed on the reverse of the panel and the battery pack was secured with a strip of foam tape (to keep the switch accessible).

Vicki Evans

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