DAILY PAINTING: So far this week I've been doing the less fun and more mundane aspects of painting: stretcher bars and canvas. But at last today I got to begin to do the fun stuff. Here you see that I've created some really heavy texture, which is something I've wanted to try for a while. This is such heavy texture that it becomes sculptural. What a chore it was to brush the gesso into all those nooks and crannies, but the paintings should be well worth it!

DAILY PAINTING: Now that the glue on the frames has dried, I've cut pieces of canvas to cover, making sure the canvas is 1.5" wider, on all sides, than the 12" length of the bars. You can see I prefer to use a gallery wrap, and since I'm not comfortable with power tools, I'm using a low tech hammer and stapler. When my husband and I stretch canvas together, he uses his air stapler--bam, bam, bam!--done. But I tap away with my little hammer. I use unprimed (also called ra

DAILY PAINTING: I've finished the set of four new stretcher frames. You can see that I've put down a lot of newspaper, but the glue manages to find unprotected places--on the work surface, on the floor, on me! Try not to use alot of glue. Building stretcher frames is like a timed wrestling match: the joints will move for a limited time, but once they become rigid, you're out of luck. Be sure to have a rubber mallet handy for a little persuasion. After all, a stretcher fr

DAILY PAINTING: I really liked the process of the collage we just finished, "Down Under," and I want to work further in that way. But I also have had it in my mind to produce a series of 12x12" canvases. So here I've begun to glue up the corners, using my husband's woodworking corner clamps (and wood glue, of course!). These pieces are small enough that I can manage them well without help, so I should be able to glue up four to six sets within the next few days. You've g