Our backyard catnip plant is protected by a bamboo bird cage so the kitties can only get at the leaves that make their way between the bars. Unprotected catnip is soon eaten and flattened.

I had just a taste of trompe l’oeil painting in my last class at PNCA (*sniff*) and am completely hooked. Unfortunately for me, the painting I started in class included one of the objects from my thesis project which had to be returned to its designated drawer so I can’t really continue on with it, but I’m seriously thinking about starting another painting — a very small and simple one, mind you. I feel a bit like a doofus when it comes to painting, but for some reason I was totally ensnared by this project and can think of little else. Here is a detail of what I accomplished in a few hours with liquid acrylics (which I highly recommend for this style of painting). View this from a distance and please do not judge me by this example, it is far far from being finished!

Personally, I make a distinction between this sort of intimate scale work (which I prefer) and the (perhaps better known) large scale mural work also known as trompe l’oeil. I recently viewed an exhibit of trompe l’oeil paintings at Reed College and was most intrigued by the painting of letters, documents and small collections of goodies. I’m heartily lusting after this book which was on display at the museum but is, sadly, out of print. The book was the accompanying catalog to the National Gallery of Art’s Deceptions and Illusions exhibit which I wish I could have seen. I’ve been scouring the used book marts for a decently priced copy. It will be mine some day. Oh, yes.

The structure of the class (Techniques of the Old Masters) which introduced me to trompe l’oeil had its good and bad points — the good is that I was exposed to a number of different painting techniques: egg tempera, fresco, 19th-century stenciling (with bronze powder), reverse painting on glass, silverpoint, framing, gilding, encaustic…the bad really wasn’t that bad, we just rarely had time to complete a finished work (with the exception of egg tempera, reverse glass painting, and silverpoint). It was more of a dip your toe in many artistic pools class. In truth, I can’t recommend the class highly enough. If you find yourself in the PNCA BFA program, take it! The instructor, Paul Missal, is wonderful and will likely be retiring in the next couple of years. He was one of my first and favorite teachers at PNCA. I hope he considers teaching some continuing ed classes so I can study with him again.

Oh, dear. Now I feel a sentimental mood coming on.

After about 10 attempts, I think I’m finally getting the hang of the marbling thing. I’m a rank amateur, to be sure, but can see possibilities. I love the psychedelic, lava-lampy aspects of this one. Of course, the colors emphasize it. I’m still working on finding a good palette. I have a motley assortment of Golden liquid acrylics and the garish assortment of inks that came with the mini-marbling kit I purchased at Art Media. Click on the picture for the full sheet so you can fully admire my air bubbles and mysterious black splotches (315k). Click here for a trippy close-up (173k). The trick seems to be to really load the tray with color and then smear it up a bit with a chopstick or some such thing, before combing through it. I learned about the smearing up part by looking at pictures of marble artist Ann Muir doing her thing. I just ordered a sample book of her marbled paper patterns, which are extraordinary, from Bookmakers and hope to find a sheet that will complement my cabinet.

This entry really clashes with my site color scheme. Perhaps, I should consider a color scheme that is less vulnerable to clashy-ness.