Unbeleev - Interactive Memories of Italy, Oil on Birch 2019-2020
As I was painting Florence, I was rolling around ideas for the next painting. Florence was a "flat" painting, by that I mean, on a single birch board, one level. I decided I wanted to do something multi-level, similar to my first painting, Corniligia. I also decided that I wanted it to be interactive, so the viewer could set the story, similar to "Oh, Look a Castle" ... I started thinking... obsessively thinking... there were so many possibilities...
The painting is a gift for a travel friend who travels with not just me, but other friends as well. In this painting, I have tried to capture her current travel friends as well as some of her favourite locations in Italy and one Australian surprise! I apologize to my friends and Sister Sue, for your faces in the painting! You will have to determine who you are in the painting by the clothes the character is wearing. And just so you know - you look more like yourself when the character is viewed sideways, or upside-down! I am wondering if you will be able to find the person I accidentally painted with 6 toes! (It's just the way her foot worked out!) The only person who is recognizable is St. Francis and that's because no one knows what he really looked like and although all the real-life people depicted in the painting are indeed real-life angels with sparkly and sturdy halos, St. Francis is the only one with a gold-leaf halo! The goats from the Isle of Volcano, off Lipari, are recognizable too (they don't have halos)!
I started the painting on January 1, 2019 and finished on August 30, 2020. It went through a number of design iterations. All of it was fun, except the cutting. Birch is quite hard and many cuts were delicate and had to be done with a tiny, sharp, hand-held knife... I only cut myself three times though, which is pretty good!
It is a busy piece because it is a composite of memories gathered into one big "ponder". There are 5 depths/levels to the painting, comprised of 13 parts: 5 panels, 5 spinners, 2 sliders and 1 flipper. The math on this painting messes me up, but with all these moving parts I think there are 16,284 combinations, or possible scenarios - A math friend says there are 8,192 combinations, but I believe we missed a combination when we did the math together. He also said it would take just under one year to see all combinations if you moved one piece every hour for 24 hours a day - no time for sleeping.
Subject matter depicts:
It is water-based oil on birch. The back frame is 20 by 36. With both sliders extended, the painting measures 30 by 43.
It is the most complex painting I have done so far.
The painting is a gift for a travel friend who travels with not just me, but other friends as well. In this painting, I have tried to capture her current travel friends as well as some of her favourite locations in Italy and one Australian surprise! I apologize to my friends and Sister Sue, for your faces in the painting! You will have to determine who you are in the painting by the clothes the character is wearing. And just so you know - you look more like yourself when the character is viewed sideways, or upside-down! I am wondering if you will be able to find the person I accidentally painted with 6 toes! (It's just the way her foot worked out!) The only person who is recognizable is St. Francis and that's because no one knows what he really looked like and although all the real-life people depicted in the painting are indeed real-life angels with sparkly and sturdy halos, St. Francis is the only one with a gold-leaf halo! The goats from the Isle of Volcano, off Lipari, are recognizable too (they don't have halos)!
I started the painting on January 1, 2019 and finished on August 30, 2020. It went through a number of design iterations. All of it was fun, except the cutting. Birch is quite hard and many cuts were delicate and had to be done with a tiny, sharp, hand-held knife... I only cut myself three times though, which is pretty good!
It is a busy piece because it is a composite of memories gathered into one big "ponder". There are 5 depths/levels to the painting, comprised of 13 parts: 5 panels, 5 spinners, 2 sliders and 1 flipper. The math on this painting messes me up, but with all these moving parts I think there are 16,284 combinations, or possible scenarios - A math friend says there are 8,192 combinations, but I believe we missed a combination when we did the math together. He also said it would take just under one year to see all combinations if you moved one piece every hour for 24 hours a day - no time for sleeping.
Subject matter depicts:
- 148 Buildings
- 12 Locations
- 29 People
- 3 Vespas
- 5 Ruins
- 4 Fiats
- 4 Goats
- Uncountable windows, shutters, doors, bricks and grapes!
It is water-based oil on birch. The back frame is 20 by 36. With both sliders extended, the painting measures 30 by 43.
It is the most complex painting I have done so far.
Panel Detail Photos
The detail photos below are posted in no particular order, but they will let you see details from each section.
Spinners
There are five spinners with four items/characters on each. Themes: 1-Buildings visited, 2-Local people and a goat, 3-Transportation, 4-Fellow travellers, 5-Karen in locations.
Panels
The panels include: Riomaggiore, Corniglia, Scopello, Laverna, Morgantina, Assisi and Manarola. They were quite fun to plan and paint. Painting and blending the details in each building made me smile. Each building has it's own characteristics and each invites me to move in for an extended period of time! It was a pleasure to work on these panels. Some buildings took over two hours each to be completed. My favourite part of the painting is the road leading around the corner, and the stonework in the three walls in front of and beside the green building; which is where we stayed in Corniglia.
Sliders
Two sliders include: Top Slider - a four hour hike up to the top of a mountain at Riomaggiore, to see the Sanctuary of Nostra Signora di Montenero, which provided us with an incredible view of the Ligurian Sea. We stopped for an incredible cappuccino half way up. We wandered through vineyards, orchards, ancients paths and goat fields.
Bottom Slider - A surprise from the top of a bridge from Down-Under.
Bottom Slider - A surprise from the top of a bridge from Down-Under.
Flipper
On our first day in Sicily, we saw series of tiny signs marked "Tholos" so we followed the signs until we found The Tholos of Montalbano Elicona. The flip side of the Tholos panel, depicts 3 ancient Fiats we saw on the Isle of Lipari!It took a very long time to paint the rocks. I "tashed" in Burnt Umber over Naples yellow, and blended and detailed from there.
Assembly
Over the year and a half, as I was painting, I was also planning the assembly. It would be quite intricate and placement of the pieces had to be exact. Also, the spinners, needed to be free enough to spin, but tight enough to hold their position. I met with a guitar builder and master wood-worker friend, in St. Thomas, who told me about Super Slippery Tape and plastic washers. So these two items played an important role in the assembly. Also important was the creation of tiny support arms that would hold the sliders in place. The assembly plans also provided me with fun and creative thinking. During the assembly I had to build a method to mount it to a wall so the painting hangs perfectly allowing the sliders to freely function.
Detail Shots
My favourite brushes are 20/0, 5/0 and 3/0; very tiny brushes - not single hair, but pretty close. So - if anyone wants to supply gifts because I am so charming - these are what I am after. I broke a few, as they are so delicate that if dropped, the brush snaps in half.
At the end of it all, I am happy with this painting. It tested and challenged me. It let me see what I am able to actually paint, and what I need to seriously improve.
The next painting is already started, but it will not be complex at all... kind-of a holiday-from-thinking piece... maybe...
The next painting is already started, but it will not be complex at all... kind-of a holiday-from-thinking piece... maybe...