An Artist’s Refrigerator

An Artist’s Refrigerator

Yes, you are seeing inside my refrigerator – paint pots just below the chicken salad.  It’s a trick I was taught by Chery Baird, my lovely art teacher, to save those leftover custom mixed acrylic paint colors.

I never quite mix the right amount, especially when I am working on a series, which is why I wind up with those little “palette cleanser” paintings before I feel I can move on.

Seal up the paint (those are little Rubbermaid pots), spritz with a little water from time to time, and store them in the fridge.  I’ve had them last for months, which is so much better than having them dry out and get thrown away or saved as paint “skins” I never get around to using.

Good news, no waste.  Bad news, I’m kind of ready to let go and move on to another color scheme, but there are all of these lovely paints still wanting to be used.   Good news, I can always use them as a base to  mix another color – it’s not so hard to turn a green to a blue or a neutral, or really anything.  So, no bad news.

Palette Cleansers

Palette Cleansers

I’ve finally finished by 10 painting series based on a color palette inspired by the Villa La Contessina in Sorrento, Italy.

Now, I was taught to mix a lot of my own colors, so that means I have little pots, lots of little pots, because when you do ten paintings you will never get exactly the right amount mixed and there will be lots of little variations.

So, though I’m kind of ready to move on, I’m drawn to using what’s left on my brushes after a session or in my pots at the start of a session to create these little “palette cleansers” – just playing, really, with color and marks and little 3×3, 4×4, or 5×5 off cuts that are lying around.

Here are a couple more, and you can see others over on instagram @therestofmytime