Category Archives: acrylic

Process

A number of these paintings by Cazenovia artist Hon Go David Robertson are sporting red dot stickers on their tags indicating that they have been sold. Great news that a library show can garner sales.

This exhibition is located inside the Cazenovia Public Library, 100 Albany Street, Cazenovia, New York 13035.

There will be a reception for the artist on August 26th, 2023 at 6:00 pm. I believe the work will be up for the duration of the month of August.

In his statement, Robertson refers to the process of creating these incredibly textured acrylic paintings. He considers the creation a celebration of the present moment.

The show is actually titled “Texture Through Time”.

Hours of Operation:

Monday-Thursday: 10am-8pm
Friday: 10am-6pm
Saturday: 10am-4pm
Closed Sunday

Call (315) 655-9322 for more information.

Teaching Bergeron

My Art-8 students viewed the paintings of Canadian artist Daniel Bergeron, specifically, his installation in Regent Park in Toronto.

Then they painted the teachers and staff at our school! The steps were as follows:

  1. Create an Abstract Expressionist base coat on the canvas.
  2. Trace a contour line version of the face photograph onto the canvas via graphite paper then paint the lines with black paint.
  3. Add paint – Abstract Expressionism, solid areas, and patterned areas.
  4. Using Mod Podge, adhere parts of the photograph onto the painting, as well as some patterned paper.
  5. Touch ups plus add bits of fluorescent and metallic paints.

This is my sample (above). We used acrylic paint.

Here are the results. They are on display in the school library. I’ve got one more class finishing up tomorrow for a total of fifty-five paintings. So fun! <3

Vince’s Gourmet Still Life

Vince’s Gourmet Imports is an Italian grocery store on Route 11 in North Syracuse, New York. I love the depth and breadth of the merchandise. What works here is rhythm – the repetition of shapes and color.

These are acrylic paintings on 16″ x 20″ canvas panels created by students in my 8th grade accelerated Studio in Art classes. (Chittenango Middle School, Chittenango, New York) The trick is to start with white paint, add Raw Sienna (a yellow ochre color) then add the color of your choice. One color then permeates throughout the canvas, which is pleasing to the eye and causes non-artists to say something like, “I don’t know why I like this, but I do.”

We looked at the work of Janet Fish, specifically the techniques used to create the illusion of reflective surfaces. I am so pleased with the results.

The Donuts

A small class of 8th graders created these trompe l’oeil donuts. They each created a half dozen to be placed in a real DD box provided by the local Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 5 in Chittenango, NY.

Here’s how they did it –

  1. Armature consisted of aluminum foil and masking tape with paper towel pieces wrapped around each. The goal was to create life-sized donuts of the same size and thickness. Two classes.
  2. Papier mache was added in the form of paper towel bits adhered with Mod Podge. They used bamboo brushes. This step took several classes.
  3. Celluclay is a paper pulp that when mixed with water, makes a type of gooey glue/clay substance that sticks when dry. This was used for the frosting element. One or two classes.
  4. Students painted the Celluclay portion of the donuts with acrylic paint. They used different tints of colors plus browns to depict chocolate. Each donut a different color. Two classes.
  5. They added designs with paint. This included dashes and dots, stripes and/or splatter painting. One class.
  6. Finally, they painted Mod Podge in spots and sprinkled various glitters/sequins/glass beads to the donuts. One class.

Everyone who sees them in the boxes thinks they are real. “Oh, can I have one?” LOL – so great! <3

Beary Christmas

If you are looking for a place to take a moonlit walk, go directly to Marcellus Park now. Right now (from 4:00 – 9:00 pm). They’re having hot cider and snacks.

Marcellus Park is located at 2443 Platt Road, Marcellus, New York 13108. They have a playground, basketball and tennis courts and a trail surrounding a trout-filled creek. It is a gem of a place!

Tinker Falls

From Jamesville, New York, drive about 20 minutes down Route 91 and you will find yourself in Labrabor Hollow. There is a parking lot off the highway – cross the street and now you are at Tinker Falls!

What an amazing experience. There are two components here – the treacherous climb up to the falls, the trail under the falls and another steep incline up, up, up…and then…a wide trail that continues up, up, up to a scenic overlook, which is a hang-gliding hot spot.

The brilliance of New York State all in one perfect day. The air is so fresh and the hike makes you feel so alive, so present, as if nothing else in the world matters.

It is a perfect place to stumble upon an angel or six. So grateful. <3

Three Falls Woods

Three Falls Woods is located at 4618 Sweet Road, Manlius, NY 13104. It is a beautiful place to hike! There are two main trails – the white trail leads to a pond and the blue trail loops the falls, and then there are the other trails that get you completely lost and so the key is to go early in the morning and make sure your phone is charged to GPS your ass out of there. So fun!

Bubo & Company

Be on the lookout for these little darlings. Yes, more owl rocks! This time I painted them with acrylic metallic paint. They remind me of Bubo from “Clash of the Titans” (1981 version).

First I used gesso. Then I painted on the faces, added color and did the detail work using a black Sharpie marker.

In addition, they are coated with Mod Podge in a matte finish.

They will be sent to a park nearby. Not sure which park yet. Stay tuned. <3

Kline-Dine Tash Mash

I call this project the Kline-Dine Tash Mash.

First I shared information about Franz Kline. He created large scale black and white paintings. These paintings resembled Chinese Calligraphy.

My students looked at Chinese Calligraphy resource pictures. They used black oil pastels to draw lines on a 12′ x 12″ canvas that were influenced by the Chinese characters.

Next, they added white acrylic paint using sweeping brushstrokes with a 1″ flat brush. They were encouraged to occasionally crash into the oil pastel to create some gray areas.

In the following class, they placed black acrylic paint over the black lines allowing some of the texture of the oil pastel to remain on the surface.

Jim Dine was next. We looked at his heart paintings. I gave them another canvas – a 4″ x 4″ one. They created heart stencils, traced them onto this smaller canvas then painted the canvas – either white heart with black background or black heart on white background.

Students then used colorful oil pastels on the heart and its background.

I had them choose a wood block, glue it to the back of the smaller canvas then adhere it to the center of the larger one.

I call it a Tash Mash because it is a mash-up of Kline and Dine but I use the heart motif in many of my own paintings as well, and I utilize the wood riser technique when mounting my encaustic paintings onto chalkboard painted masonite boards. And I invented the lesson.

I’m thinking about doing a series of encaustics in this style. Thank you, Franz Kline and Jim Dine for your contributions to Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, respectively, and for having names that rhyme.

Giving a Hoot

My owls are almost ready to rock and roll. Yes, because they are rocks and they are about to roll into a New York state park. I will be hiding these beauties some time soon for you to seek, enjoy and well, they glow (under a black light).

Fluorescent paint!

My friends and I like to search for real owls when we are out hiking. We hear them hooting (or who-ing) but they often elude us. So I painted owls. They will be hiding in plain sight, much like their real counterparts.

I wrote www.karentash.com on the back, so if you are here because you found one, then congratulations! Someone suggested I sell them for $25 each. Is that a thing? Do people actually buy painted rocks? If so, then I have successfully found my new side hustle, lol.

But I think the fun is in the giving. Giving back to nature and giving the gift of a magical experience. That is the real pleasure of artistic endeavors.

They are not planted as of this blog post, but will be soon. Stay tuned. <3