Varnishing day

With the B/W&C opening less than 3 weeks away, I'm gearing up prepping for the show. Over the weekend, I framed about half a dozen pieces, attached D-ring hangers, and wrapped everything in plastic.

While doing all this I noticed one of the older, larger pieces had some areas where the gloss of the paint was uneven, which left me dissatisfied. Although I don't always do this, in this case I decided the cure was to (drum roll!) varnish the painting.

A photo posted by Ron Crouch (@ralphart2018) on Oct 3, 2016 at 9:35pm PDT

I'm not sure why, but I always get a little nervous about varnishing. I think it's mostly from what I read about doing it as a young art student, primarily about the need for a "dust-free environment" - like that actually exists.

My practical experience has generally been relatively trouble-free. I use Liquitex Soluvar gloss varnish, thinned with just a small amount of turpentine, and paint it on with a 3-inch white bristle brush. I have less of a problem with dust than I do stray hairs off the brush.

So after pondering the notion for most of the day, I got home, cleared off a flat horizontal surface, poured out a little varnish and turps, and started brushing. After I finished I had enough leftover varnish to coat another older (but smaller) painting I'd decided some time ago to varnish next time I got around to it.

Clean up is relatively simple - use turps or mineral spirits, although in my opinion, turpentine cleans it out better. Important note! If you are thinning the varnish, read the instructions - it probably tells you to thin with turpentine. DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF IGNORING THIS ADVICE! The results otherwise can be awful - at least they were for me, years ago. Your mileage may vary.

So, why varnish? The usual reason given is to protect the painting, put a removable/renewable layer on the painting - all good advice.

Why do *I*?

Primarily because I tend to work thin, sometimes without a lot of medium, and the paint - especially in dark areas, can have a chalky, flat quality which looks sort of crappy. A layer of varnish will (for me anyway) make the colors instantly deeper, richer and uniform in their gloss.

It's a personal thing, to be sure, but over the last couple of years, I've pulled out several older pieces that I've not been completely satisfied with and hit them with a coat of Soluvar and WHOOSH - it's like a new painting. A good painting.

So, feeling brave? Just do it.

Don't use spray varnish (ugh); get a brush and smear that shit around.

You can thank me later.

Coming October 22 - B/W&C Group Show at Gallery 414

Update on the show I've organized at Gallery 414.

Show title: B / W & C - Paintings and Photograph by Ron Crouch, Leo Wesson, and Kipp Baker. It will be at Gallery 414, located on the near west side Fort Worth at 414 Templeton, just north of 7th Street and east of University Drive.

The opening will be Saturday, October 22 from 6 to 9 PM and will be up from October 22 through November 20. The gallery will be open Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 5 and by appointment during the week.

I don't know how it is that I've become friends with so many photographers - I've known Leo for over 35 years, and Kipp since my days as an undergraduate at TCU (I'll let you do the math there, thank you). Both have done countless favors for me (many but not all of a photographic nature).

I’ll be showing mostly recent paintings with maybe a couple of older, pieces, while Leo and Kipp will be showing photography. In addition to the Gallery 414 website, the 3 of us also have a website up with more information about us and the show, which can be seen at:

http://bwc-artspace.com.

Once we've got the final mix of work for the show we'll most likely feature it on the bwc-artspace.com website, but for now, here's a little taste.

In the Fort Worth Museum District

There are several not-to-be-missed shows over in the Fort Worth Museum district these days, which caused me to put aside my visceral hatred of what the City of Fort Worth is doing over there.

First off, if you haven't done so yet, GO TODAY and check out the Lucian Freud show at the Modern. I'd been waiting with barely concealed eagerness since first hearing of it last year, and it does not disappoint. An absolutely fabulous show. Warning, if naked people upset you, take a Xanax and get over it.

The accounts I've read of Freud's life would lead one to conclude he may not have been the nicest person to wander the earth, but he is by-god one hell of a painter.  This is, by the way, the only US venue of this outstanding show, and is up until October 28, 2012.

Once you've finished with the Freud show, you owe it to yourself to wander over to the Amon Carter Museum, and check out the show, American Vanguards: Graham, Davis, Gorky, De Kooning and Their Circle, 1927 - 1942. The Amon Carter does a consistently good job on shows like this. Before you leave, also find the exhibition, Industrial Monuments: Photographs and Works on Paper from the Machine Age. I'm  a sucker for works on paper and actually enjoyed this more than the American Vanguards show (as good as that was). You may need to ask a guard where the Industrial Monuments show is on display - it's a little hard to find.

John Moore at Arts Fifth Avenue

My old friend John C. Moore has a new show over at Arts Fifth Avenue here in Fort Worth, which opened last night. It is, not surprisingly, wonderful.

He's pulled in some themes he worked with in his Hip Pocket production, On The Origins of the Specifics (look for fossils and the HMS Beagle), as well as some other classically Moorian imagery. Dorothy and I showed up at around 8 PM last night and already 7 pieces had been sold.

Along with John, there were some great work by Dale Connor and Wally Night.

In addition to seeing John, I also ran into old friend Beth F. and Robert E, who I'd not seen in a long time. A great event. Catch it while you can. There is a closing event scheduled for Spring Arts Google on Saturday, May 14.

PS: here's my own John Moore painting.

Fall 2009 Arts Goggle

Fall 2009 Arts Goggle has come and gone. Despite minimal publicity and intermittent rain, we had a good turn out at the office of Courage and Renewal North Texas.

I got there about 3:00 in the afternoon. The rain at that point was fairly light and we already had small but steady stream of visitors. As the rain picked up, traffic fell off. Because the rain cooled things off we were able to open the windows and enjoy the breeze.

As afternoon drifted to evening, the rains slacked off and the visitors picked up. A number of friends from Broadway Baptist came by, though a competing event (that I would have attended myself, should I not have been otherwise committed) kept a number of folks away. Quite few old TCU cohorts and work friends made their way over.

Catching up with old friends was probably the most enjoyable part of the evening. Usually I do that at other people's art events; it was a nice change to have my art on the walls. If I'd bothered to price things I think I would have sold several pieces (I've got a couple of people I need to get back to on that topic).

We finally closed up shop around 9:15. I stopped off at the venue my brother was volunteering for and ended up giving their evening's guitarist a break by playing for about 15 minutes. The audience consisted of the other volunteers who didn't seem to mind one way or the other whether I was there. I go home about 10:30 to discover the neighbors had "pigged" me (local joke) -- part of the pigging included a bottle of Tanquery gin.

All in all, the evening was a success. The CRNT people were as nice as could be, the space (an old converted house) was well-suited to my rather domestic scenes. I've taken the show down (this was a one night only event) and am now in search of my next venue.

Thanks to all who came by or made this possible.

Recent Paintings - Fall 2009

On view October 3, 2009, 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Offices of Courage & Renewal North Texas
1229 7th Ave. (Corner of W. Magnolia, just west of Benito's)
Fort Worth, TX 76104

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I'm showing a handful of new (and maybe a couple of old) paintings next week during the Fall 2009 Southside Arts Goggle. This will be the first time I've exhibited in around 10 years. About time, you might say.

These will be on display at the offices of Courage & Renewal - North Texas,  located at 1229 7th Ave. (Corner of W. Magnolia, just west of Benito's). In addition to my work, C&RNT will also be showing photographs by Donna Bearden and sculptures by Wayne Martin.

In years past Arts Goggle has coincided with Fort Worth Gallery night, but this fall takes place on October 3, 2009, from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm. I'm intending to be there most of the time (with a little break at some point for dinner).

For those who've never done it, Arts Goggle is basically a street festival. There will be lots of art in non-traditional venues, music, food and general good fun. It's the sort of thing you can park and wander from venue to venue quite easily.

For those who are directionally challenged, here's a map to the office of C&RNT (click to pull up the full Google map):

Arts Goggle

I'm ashamed to say, despite living in the Mid-South neighborhood (Fairmount, to be exact), I've not fully immersed myself in the twice-yearly Arts Goggle. Oh, I always manage to hit one or two places, but that's about it.

I hereby pledge to more fully support this noble and egalitarian endeavor.

Part of the problem is that Arts Goggle always coincides with Gallery Night weekend and I don't usually have the energy to do both. This year's Gallery Night I only managed to hit 3 places out of the 3 or so dozen that had activities. Next Spring, I plan to take off half a day on that Friday so as to have the time to get into the swing of things. Some habits are good things.

One interesting outcome of this year's Gallery Night was that I tentatively agreed to do an exhibition for next Fall's Goggle. This means some serious time spent in the studio. Of course a lot can happen between then and now, but at the very least, this will encourage me to spend (more) time in the studio.

More to come as I start the process of putting together a body of new work.