The Giant Diptych

 

(Above:  Me painting the tan side of the giant diptych.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

For several months, I've been working on a couple of VERY LARGE commissions. They all started with correspondence discussing size and price, a proposal, a contract, and a schedule for required updates.  (These are the same, first two sentences on my earlier post from today ... about the other commission, a giant triptych!  The diptych and the triptych were for the same client!)  This has been quite exciting ... and more than a little scary.  After all, I don't generally paint.  Yet, the art consultancy saw my earlier piece, Capitals in Blue and Gold.  They simply wanted the finished work to measure 7' x 3' ... which is really, really big!

 

(Above:  Me painting the blue side of the diptych.)

Well ... if I can paint once, I figured I could paint again.  Apparently, this attitude works!  I'm very, very pleased with the results. 

 

(Above:  The finished diptych.)

Of course, I really couldn't capture quality images of these works.  First, the size is enormous.  Second, the glare from the coating of UV filtering epoxy makes it really hard to photograph.  Yet, I did take plenty of pictures of the work while in progress.  These were needed for the periodic, PDF progress updates.  Some of image are below ... including ...

 

... a composite image showing a detail of the painting before being stitched (top) and after being stitched (bottom). 

 

 

 

The image above shows the same detail area from the back side.  Both pieces were free-motion embroidered using 100% black cotton thread on the single layer of painted canvas.

 

This image above shows the back of the piece clamped to the original stretcher bar.  Basically, the free-motion stitching outlines the paint while adding contrast and detail.  In order to share this part of the process with the clients, Steve shot a short You Tube video. Truly, I absolutely love my Babylock Tiara!

After the stitching was finished on both pieces, the work was sealed with GAC 400, a fabric stiffener and nailed to the back side of a heavy-duty stretcher bar.  3/4" galvanized roofing nails were used.  The sides of the stretcher bar were previously painted white.  (Why "nailed to the back side"? Well, the front of a stretcher bar has a raised outer rim.  The back side is totally flat!)  Once prepared, the giant pieces were coated with UV filtering epoxy.  This liquid is self-leveling.  A propane torch is used to eliminate any bubbles that form while the two-part solutions are aggressively stirred together.  There's a 22-second video of this too!

Once both the diptych and the triptych were finished and the arts consultancy got final approval from their Seattle client, crates were built.  Steve and I got to learn plenty about the high cost of freight shipping in this wild and crazy world of fluctuating diesel fuel costs, driver shortages, and supply chain problems that have tied up various trucks.  Some companies weren't accepting new clients.  Others had exorbitant costs.  Believe it or not, my best quote came from FedEx freight!

Both crates weighed nearly 100 pounds.  We put handles on them.  The FedEx driver couldn't have been nicer.

Yet, I think Ernie the Cat misses the boxes.  Everyone knows how cats love boxes.  These were no exception!  This project evolved over several, exciting months.  I was reluctant to blog about it until the crates were safely in Seattle (and ... yes ... I used FedEx tracking to see where they went every step of their west-bound journey!)