nanoscapes' interview @Still Point Gallery Blog

  

When the three Fractured Glass paintings were accepted into  Still Point Gallery's TRUE ARTIST exhibition, I was honored and delighted.  Gallery owner Christine Cote interviewed for the gallery's blog and I talked about nanoscapes, Fractured Glass 1,2 & 3, and Painstaking Exuberance.

Fractured Glass #1 and #3 are for sale through Still Point.

 

Fractured Glass 2: Finally Finished

Finally finished. 

Two weeks of Painstaking Exuberance, the hallmark and motto of every nanoscape.

Every line, every block of color, every time a new line in motion appeared.

I loved every minute of it.

Fractured Glass #2.
May 2010.
Watercolor on Arches 140# hot press paper 
10-1/4 x 14-1/2"
The original and a limited edition of digital prints are, indeed, for sale at the nanoscapes website.
http://www.susangainen-nanoscapes.com/ 

And because I can't help myself, I have already begun Fractured Glass #3, which will be 22x33." That would be a total of 723 square inches, which I calculated after the pencil work in Step 1 took 16 hours over four days.  

Fractured Glass 2: Step 4 Outline outline outline

The fourth step in any nanoscape is to outline each shape.  In Fractured Glass 2, each shape the dominant shape is triangle, but there are some diamond or oddly configured four-sided shapes as well.  I used Daniel Smith Indigo for these outlines because it is strong enough to stand up to the colors that it surrounds.

The outlines begin in the upper middle.

After what seems like an eternity but is actually only three or four days, every shape has been corralled and the piece is nearly done.

Fractured Glass 2: More color and yet more color (Still in Step 3)

While all five nanoscapes' creative steps are equal, they are not equal in the time that each takes to complete.  Step 3, the color adding step, usually takes the bulk of the time.  Lucky for me, adding colors and making new colors with Daniel Smith Prima Teks (mesmerizing minerals) and Daniel Smith Luminescent (magical colors made with titanium bits), are among my favorite things to do in life.

 

The patterns in Fractured Glass 2 come to life with the addition of more color.

Two things happen at this point:  People urge me to leave some white triangles, and I begin to think that I am almost finished.

For the first, I politely decline.  For the second,  I have done this long enough to know that "almost finished" is a delusion.

There is a lot more work to do.

Fractured Glass 2: More color in Step 3

I worked on Fractured Glass 2 for about 15 days.  I worked on Step 3, adding color, for about 10 days.

And more color...

And still more color...  Slowly, and then all at once, the patterns become visible.

Fractured Glass 2: Step 3 - Color comes to the nanoscape

I always hold my breath when I put the first color on a nanoscape, and I always reach for a red.  As an enthusiastic collector of colors, I have a lot from which to choose.  While I am partial to Daniel Smith's reds, I also have Winsor Newton and Sennelier reds.  I also love to mix colors on the palette, so the dozen or so red tube colors slide toward orange, purples or yellows, mix with Daniel Smith Pearlesent White and more.

In Fractured Glass 2, I worked from left to right, color by color. At this early stage, you can see red, green and Holbein Lavender

Fractured Glass 2: Step 2 - Winsor Newton Davy's Gray and Daniel Smith #3 Brush

This should look just the first step of Fractured Glass 2 because it is.  I pick up a paintbrush after the pencil lines are in place, and set the design with Winsor Newton Davy's Gray, a very light gray  watercolor.

In the earliest nanoscapes, I used Winsor Newton Sepia, which has a darker character and is staining (a painter's word for either delightfully or annoyingly permanent) or Daniel Smith Sepia, which is unabashedly brown.  I also experimented with Daniel Smith Payne's Gray, which was too dark for the nanoscapes' framework.

Fractured Glass 2: Step 1 - A triangle, a pencil and an eraser

I am often asked: "How do you begin?"  I started Fractured Glass 2 with one triangle, and was delighted to watch it grow, shrink, and change directions. While working in pencil, I sort out the corners and the places where the shapes meet or overlap.  My two tools are a General Pencil Kimberly Premium Graphite 6H drawing pencil and a Faber-Castell Dust-Free Vinyl eraser.