I have decided to try to write my blog once a week, to keep on practicing, until I am awesome at it!! To be honest this technology thing is tricky for me. Im not an instructions kind of person, I just press random buttons which look kind of right and hope for the best. Its a wonder I got that quote above there at all!
Anyway, its there because it relates to slate and creating things and as you know, I create art on slate. And you also may know how I discovered that slate is such a beautiful canvas if you read my first ever blog... I went to the reclamation yard, picked up a slate to do a house sign, saw that it was cool to paint on, worked out how to present them as a finished piece of art.... There you go, you're up to speed!
I just thought you may be interested in hearing a little bit more details of the process of that, as with a lot of things it has been something that takes quite a bit of effort. So the first thing I do is collect the slate from here...
This is the reclamation yard where I go to choose my slate... Im very choosy, there is a lot there, but most of it isn't suitable. It has to be the beautiful ones with lots of colours from years on a roof. If I'm lucky I even find ones with fossils in.
I like the cornish slate as that usually fits the bill.
Sometimes the slate is high up in big crates and if so I get some help from the lovely people who work there...
Then I get them home, bash them about a bit so that they fit on the board nicely and also don't look too uniform. I then sort out the boards... I buy the board which comes all long and uncut, so I ask my gorgeous husband to cut the board and then sand the board...he's good like that!
The boards are then painted and ready for the slates. Once the slates are cleaned I am ready to paint them.
I haven't got any photos of me painting them, I haven't even got any photos of my new studio, something to look forward to in future blogs
I paint the slates with either Gouache which is lovely to use for the fine lines I often paint. I used to use it for the other details, until I discovered Golden acrylics and experimented with the colours. I can't even say how much I love using them now. The colours are rich, bright and totally gorgeous. They are expensive especially as they are liquid and it is not a rare occurrence that I knock one of them over and have to try desperately to scoop it up or use it in my paintings before it dries!
I sometimes just use white gouache to paint the wild flower slates, because they work so well in their simplicity..
Once painted, I seal them with varnish to further enhance the colours of the painting and of the slate. The varnish also protects the painting.
And finally, finally, I mount them on the board and put the fittings on the back. Ready to go... Phew!
