painting with lentils

I have finally started class again! hooray! I am very glad to be in class again- to have the motivation of checking in regularly with others and the input. BUT all that said, the last couple weeks have been very long as I adjust to working and taking class. The past 2 Fridays I have come home and totally crashed in exhaustion.

I am taking Studio 2 (again) and our first assignment was to create a drawing tool and 5 large drawings using that tool. It was really fun and very freeing to experiment and make a new tool. . . and to have a change from working with fabric for a bit. Given that I love cooking and spend a lot of time in the kitchen using my kitchen tools, I decided to make my drawing tool out of a couple of these kitchen utensils. By combining a pancake spatula and basting brush, end to end, I made the tool. With this tool I began to consider what my drawing materials would be- I knew it had to be something thick and I thought it would be interesting to keep it in the kitchen. And in the fridge, in the kitchen I had some left-over lentil soup and I thought it was worth a try to see what that would do.

drawing tool and tinted lentils

For my initial experiments I soon realized that I wasn’t going to be able to apply the lentils to the paper with the tool, but that I would need to pour and then move and push the mixture around. I also quickly realized that as soon as the lentils dried they cracked off the paper- there wasn’t enough natural binder in them to make it stick to the paper.

With these tests I was also trying to figure out if the lentils would work as a resist when paint was added. It didn’t really.

From here I decided to work on the application process, so I found a squeeze bottle and cut the top off. It was apparent that mashing the lentils by hand was both slow and left too many chunks. . . so I bought a food processor (something that I’ve been wanting for a while! yeah!). I added a lot of acrylic paint to the new, more consistent lentil mash and tried to draw with it through the squeeze bottle.

Although I had some control this way, I was also not able to move or manipulate anything once the lentils were on the paper. I was also had several explosions when I squeezed too hard, which was really fun. . . lentils everywhere.

So I though, well maybe I could just pour the lentils from a cup. This is what I got:

These were great with texture, but took 3 full days to dry and again I had very little control. What I loved was the texture of the lentils and I really wanted to be able to use my tool, which is great for scraping and moving. I also decided that it was important to simplify my still-life, so I got rid of everything and focused on one pepper.

In doing the above drawing I realized that I was finally getting the hang of my tool and materials. I started by pouring the lentil mash (mixed with acrylic gel medium) on the paper and scraping it around until it covered the entire paper. Then with the corner of my spatula I could sketch and carve into it to get the shape of the pepper. Now I had some freedom and several chances to get it right, hooray. I added the dark lines, which is lentil mash mixed with black acrylic, by dipping the corner of the spatula in the black mash and painting it on. I ended up pouring more mash onto the paper and moving things around until I got the drawing. This was really exciting because it was starting to look like something.

This was my first in the series and the largest painting I think I’ve ever done, 36″ x 45″. Working on the floor at this size was quite a challenge and when I was finished I that it was a disaster. . . BUT it dried much better. I think now would also be the time to say that this is a really smelly process. As much as I am excited about the results that I got with this experiment, it was also a long week of a very stinky apartment.

#1, realistic (dry)

#2, from memory

#3, negative space

#4, with right hand

#5, the essence

I am very excited about the newness of working like this! It has started to open my eyes. . . and I’m thinking, thinking, and mulling-over. How does this now translate into my work? I am loving the texture of these and the raw and gritty quality. And it was surely fun to be painting!! How do painting and quilting come together?? Stay tuned. . .