Monday, September 18, 2017

Mise en Place

You know the term mise en place, the French culinary phrase that means 'put in place' or 'everything in its place'?

Well, everything is in a place in my studio today, but it certainly isn't in its place.

Dave is installing a new door in an old house. Yup, our old house. Yup, my studio. Nothing about the undertaking is straightforward. There are tools, nails, wood shavings, installation instructions, work gloves, a whisk broom, and hardware scattered in the vicinity of the door.

I am short on time and painting quickly this afternoon. My mess includes matte medium, a tooling stylus, paintbrushes, tubes of paint, a wet rag, scraps of torn paper, and a paint palette, each of which gets put down with no thought as I reach for the next item to move forward the creative idea of the moment.

Where door installation ends and painting begins? Hard to tell, hard to tell.

Great fun, though.

Tomorrow I will mise a few finishing touches en place in this painting and call it complete.

Oh, and maybe set my studio to rights, too.

work in progress
4x5"

6 comments:

Sheila said...

Promise of Glory to come! Love the trunks, the shapes. The textures :)

dotty seiter: now playing said...

Thanks, Sheila. This was fun to play with and I'm eager to see if I can sneak in studio time today to play some more, despite my having multiple competing demands on deck. The texture in the third tier of hills is courtesy of one of the texture sheets you sent me—I love those, both for what I can do with them and because they remind me of you every time : )

carol edan said...

This is truly amazing. I love the contrasts,newspaper,main shapes,all the textures. Want to go on picnic!

dotty seiter: now playing said...

Let's go—a picnic sounds excellent! Thanks, Carol, for feedback on contrasts, newsprint, main shapes, textures.

Janet Bradish said...

Love this - the composition, the textures!!!, the layering and veiling of paint, you marks and, and......a little gem!

dotty seiter: now playing said...

Thanks, Janet. This 'coverup' represents a sweet time in my studio—intuitive, playful, investigative : )

Post a Comment