Lagoon stretched

Lagoon stretched.

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll recall this painting from last year titled, Lagoon. It was the only canvas of this size (70" x 130") that I had painted on that wasn't stretched first. Due to it's size, it was easier for me to paint it unstretched so that I could store it rolled up. Had I stretched it first and left it stretched, I would not have been able to get it out of my studio. Not only that, I would have no place to store it in there. 

Fast forward to this year. I was asked by Bridgette to stretch Lagoon so that it could be included in the Dallas Art Fair next month. Not having had experience with stretching painted canvases previouisly, I was undoubtedly anxious about the prospect. However, I went ahead with it and even managed to finish it in a much quicker time than I had anticipated. I opted to purchase some extra heavy-duty stretchers from French Canvas and am very happy with the results.  

As I mentioned, stretching Lagoon at my studio was highly impractical since there is no way I could have gotten it out of there without a crane or some kind of pully system, which I had not the time nor money to deal with. Luckily, my boss was generous enough to allow me to use some space in the basement to do the stretching. From joining the first two stretcher bars to putting in the final staple, it took me maybe 3 1/2 hours to complete-way faster than I initially thought. The corners were a pain to deal with because of the stiffness of the canvas, but I made it work, as you have to in these situations. 

So ends the latest installment in the life of Lagoon. I say latest because while working on it last year, I documented almost every step in it's evolution on this blog. To follow the progress of Lagoon, see the links below:

Lagoon In progress I
Lagoon in progress II
Lagoon in progress III
Lagoon in progress IV
Lagoon in progress V

In progress, pt. V

This is it for this painting. It's as resolved as it's going to be and I need to move on to other things. I've gone through highs, lows and a near meltdown with it near the end, but things seem to have worked out ok.

While it has been interesting documenting the development of this piece with each major change, the limitations of photography as a means of reproducing images of artwork became even more clear to me than in the past. Each time I looked through the camera's viewfinder or screen and back to the painting, I saw different works. Part of that might be the limits of my camera and lighting in the studio, as well as the camera's interpretation of certain colors. Some of the variations in color are nearly indistinguishable in the photograph, but in person they are much more easily detected.

I had as close to a perfect studio day yesterday as I could have. Besides, completing this painting, I was also able to begin work on some ideas that have been brewing for some time. As I told someone recently, by the time I've nearly finished on piece or body of work, my brain has already been working on other ideas. Whatever I'm working on is already in the past.

Update: This painting is now titled, Lagoon