Yes...we are still building our house but...you have to have balance! We both are enjoying exploring our more creative sides. Jim is now joining the acrylic pouring crowd, with a twist. He doesn't use canvas to show off his creations, he uses local wood. We've started using reclaimed Malcolm Island wood for our pours as well as gifts of wood from a couple of locals who liked our art. Some scavenged planks have gorgeous live edges and other pieces are sanded cedar we had on hand, which Jim readied for art. He's taken it one step further, though. Jim is now carving nature in the acrylic pours. Here are a couple of examples.
First, you never know if the finished product is what you expected or not. Jim did this red and green and blue acrylic pour but the red paint kind of became most prominent. Not what he expected at all!
Doggy pads work great at absorbing excess paint, which has to flow
in order to create the interesting patterns and densities.
When it was wet, the greens couldn't be seen at all. Their density was thicker than the rest of the paints. He wanted to carve a salmon into an ocean-like background. Not with this piece!
Once it was dry, Jim studied it and studied it....then he knew what he had to do...
...the piece showed him...
That's the coolest Canadian flag I've ever seen!
Next he tackled a bigger piece. He wanted to carve a cedar tree into a piece of cedar. Since I'm usually doing acrylic pouring by myself, I never have pictures of the process. So here's a quick tutorial...
Jim started with a few containers of prepared paint and pouring medium to create a camouflage of colours. Each colour was added to the wood.
Once all colours were added Jim tilted it to ensure the entire surface was covered with paint.
Once the paint was even, Jim 'swiped' it with parchment paper, which moved paint and created 'cells'.
This is the wet piece, which takes a couple of days to dry and a few days to cure. Finding a level, non-dusty place in our house suitable for drying fluid art is sometimes challenging! So far so good.
Look up Acrylic Pouring on You Tube and you'll be amazed. Having said that, nothing comes close to Jim's pour and carvings.
This is it's debut!
This carving is so beautiful, both in colour and carving. Jim used an old cedar tree outside our living room window as his inspiration. Next, he's going to paint and carve another similar sized piece of cedar in blues with something else...maybe a salmon.
Check out his carving technique. You can see various colours that come through. Pretty beautiful!
Our multi-purpose tent became a spray tent for art during the warm still days of summer. Each wood art piece is varnished on all surfaces to protect them. We now have a second wall of art in the house - Jim's poured, carved art!
Jim also sprayed a number of my art pieces. Some are on display at our little Sointula Resource Centre.
But wait, there's more!
Jim also finished a beautiful piece of fabric and painted art called "Two". He made it as a gift for his brother, Peter and his partner Kathleen. Jim presented it to them over Labour Day weekend. First time we saw them since COVID started. Such a wonderful weekend. "Two" is now in their home in Ladysmith.
This piece brings together both Jim's love of tie art and his new found interest in acrylic pouring. He started with a tracing of Peter's favourite banjo and Kathleen's favourite guitar. Then he pondered and decided that their shapes fit perfectly together in profile.
In January Jim made the acrylic pour, which would help to tie the two shapes together.
Jim chose similar colours that he had used in ties for the guitar and banjo.
Once the background was poured and the guitar and banjo tie art was finished, he assembled it then crafted a beautiful cedar frame to complement the whole thing. These are full size.
Jim's now working on carving our tree to closet as his art for the next few months. There's only so much room in the house.
Cheers
Jim and Tricia Bowen
Gorgeous stuff you two! Van Gogh would be envious!
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