Paperwork

Working on paper: a mixed bag for me. It is so accessible, compared to the elaborate preparations that need to made for so many other mediums, but I never trust myself to look after the pieces afterward, so I take a brutal, careless attitude towards them while I work -- crumpling, creasing, ripping...Then, there's the tricky question of acidity and all that; when will the piece eat itself from within? Acid free? I've taken to drinking acid-free orange juice; perhaps I will last a bit longer: become archival.

The other hang-up is: I think of them as preparatory work for other mediums. This works to some extent, though at the back of my mind I am always strongly aware that when I transfer to another medium, the process will change...of course. I have very rarely shown work on paper; and I do have big problems presenting them: matted? framed? (glass!!??)? dangling? Now it occurs to me that I have to get rid of these cute little black line frames that appear around the images on these pages.

Small piece, first in this series. Whatever you do, try not to click on it -- very blurry photograph:



These little sketches I made yesterday. I don't see myself using any of these exact arrangements, but they kind of sit nicely on this scale.
This first piece is small, on paper, whatever can be repeated of the process I'll repeat on a smooth board-like surface -- acrylics, I guess...



First attempt at "piece on paper" in this series. I'm happy with it so far -- will need to work out the early part of the process with a little more cold-blooded premeditation. Now, this image works better clicked-on.