I’ve made some real progress.

I’ve finished my layered piece. I ummed and ahhed for a while about whether I should paint the inside of the the wood frames but decided against it – I like that you can see how I made it. The bottom layer is on MDF and each subsequent layer out of a wooden frame which I made onto which I then glued the image and secured with moulding pins. I then glued them all together using Gorilla wood glue. It’s not very heavy so it should hold, but just in case I have stapled the layers together on the top and bottom where the staples won’t be visible. I hesitated about the red thread – I wanted to use it emphasise the layers but in the last iteration I had the threads looping around each other. I decided to keep it simple this time. I like the end result.

I really like the cast shadows when it is photographed in the sun:

I decided that the shape on the blue canvas needed some oompf, and so I filled it with a blue glaze. I think it looks better. I managed to make a large sheet of paper lace – it took an age to dry with all the wet weather recently, but this weekend was a godsend. it dried less flexible than I was expecting but it’s workable. I decided to go with the simple shape in the end for the middle canvas to keep the sense of connection between the three of them. I overlayed the paper lace and am quite pleased with the result. My initial thought is that perhaps the central canvas now dominates a bit, but as I have taken to it representing me, I’m not that bothered, perhaps I’ve made it so subconsciously. I decided not to go with an umbilical cord – I’m liking the separation between the shapes – the drift – disconnection with the possibility of reconnection.

All together as a triptych:

I photographed the middle canvas in the sun – I love the shadows which are created:

I also overexposed it – something to think about for the future – it’s reminding me of colllage:

I made a short video showing the stages of making:

Video

Now just to make a few adjustments to the videos I plan to show and also to finish making the books. To this end I’m not going to post again until they’re done – I’ve got to give myself a chance! I’ve decided to format the whole blog and then see if it is possible to incorporate it into 2 volumes by increasing the number of signatures in each one – at the moment there are 10 making up to 200 pages. I’m thinking that I could stretch it to 12…