Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Project Reclamation or Why Would I Paint a Landscape on Broken Furniture?

JOPLIN • TORNADO • CHARITY • OZARKS • SHOAL CREEK


The Leedy-Voulkos Gallery in KC is partnering with Spiva Art Center in Joplin to have an art auction raising funds for Joplin's art community. The twist is that the art is being made from tornado debris. Pictured above is the debris pile that the artists had to choose from for their projects. It smelled terrible. Photo courtesy of the Leedy-Voulkos Gallery.


Not being a found object artist, I chose the side panels of a dresser drawer that had blown apart. Note the  dovetail joints. First I cleaned it with bleach water and a scrub brush. Then I took it to woodworker Roy Wall to join the two pieces together. 


We were told that the artwork did not need to be related to Joplin and should reflect what we normally do. In the summer you are most likely to find me painting Missouri streams. It just so happens the nearest clear streams are near Joplin. In this case Shoal Creek. I sealed the wood with medium (Galkyd Light) and tried to paint in such a way as to show as much wood grain as possible. Warm midtones like tree trunks, foreground water and some leaves were just left as exposed wood.

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