Apologies for the Frivolity

By Barry Hammond

Mixed media on canvas

90 cm x 70 cm x 4 cm

Price on request

Meaning and visual impact:

The meaning of this painting is not so esoteric. In fact, it was never originally meant to be a finished, well composed painting. I do a lot of experimentation with tools, techniques and methods with my paintings. Often I take a random canvas and try various materials and techniques to see what happens. This particular work actually started out as a test bed for some special effects I was trying to achieve. The top panel was a test to duplicate the dark, black mineral coal. The second panel was a test to duplicate wood in a realistic way. The third panel was an attempt to reproduce an organic looking material with simulated tissue, veins and blood. The lower panel was another attempt to reproduce a rocky optical effect. After I had completed my test panels I thought it looked very interesting and thought that with a lot of extra work I could turn the messy splotches into a real piece of art. So I modified it, sanded down the rough parts, added several layers of oil glaze medium, cleaned it up, finished the frame edges in black and voilà.

Technical aspects:

The goals were to simulate the optical effect of minerals, wood, tissue and rock using paint and whatever else I needed. The experimentation used about everything I had in the tool box, cement, paste, sand, solvents, weird chemicals, oil/acrylic/enamel paints, sandpaper, etc. but the results were successful and will be incorporated into future paintings. It is a heavy painting for its size and needs to be securely hung.