Sometimes when I have the idea for a new piece, I have little idea of how I’m actually going to make it reality. This landscape was a case in point. My initial construction failed miserably and I had to walk away from it for a few weeks while I got over the trauma! Cue a total rethink on the construction side of things which happily, has worked well. The addition of a skilled and knowledgeable studio assistant (in the form of my significant other – bless his cotton socks) allowed me to make my ideas real.
I think it’s important to evolve and part of that is sometimes having a vision bigger than your current skillset. Experimenting and failing is also a valuable process which can feel so, so traumatic initially but can lead to some fantastic discoveries and additions to your skills. Seeking advice and having access to expertise beyond your experience can be massively rewarding. I belong to various groups on social media and the knowledge I’ve picked up from there you just can’t get anywhere else, especially when you are working in a fairly rare medium. I belong to a glass painting group on Facebook and have found the other members of the group to be really generous with their knowledge and the hive mind can always come up with an answer to even the most obscure of queries. Can anyone recommend an addition that will stop my paint evaporating off the palate in hot weather but still handles like water or vinegar? Why, yes, they can (add ox gall or Damar lacquer if you’re interested). If you can find a good group for your particular interest – get in there! Some of the queries aren’t even relevant to what I’m doing but I still read almost everything – you never know when that knowledge might come in handy. The other thing that fascinates me is the all the posts of work in progress. Really interesting and inspiring.
And the significant other? He’s taught me how to use a jigsaw, spent hours sanding, drilling and sawing – and he cooks a mean curry – how lucky am I?!
