Red Worm

There were a lot of ugly walls when we moved into the old house.  The color was scary – a soft yellow/off-white color throughout the house, made worse by the fact that the previous tenant was a heavy smoker (and smoked inside).  Things were less than ideal.  While we brought in a lot of things (pictures, posters, some cool candelabras) and painted several walls (see chalkboard paint post, coming soon), there was one corner we really couldn’t get to: a wall that followed the staircase down to the basement.  Too far from the upper level to reach easily, and far too high to paint from the stairs, the wall continued into the kitchen, near the oven, and was broken by several windows.  In other words, far too complicated to paint without hiring a professional (which we weren’t keen on, money-wise) and far too large a portion of the house to let remain in ugliness!

The solution came from a happy accident.  I was painting my balls (see post) in the basement and spilled a big pot of red paint.  You can’t exactly sweep paint so it was either use or let waste.  I used.  I grabbed a canvas I had nearby, among several I had just bought, and did a kind of curving shape on it, from one side curling around to another.  Liking that shape, and seeing the other canvases handy, I immediately thought “big picture” and grabbed a second canvas where the curling red shape would continue to swirl over from the first to the second.  Doing this I loved the way they looked next to each other, but they felt “not done”.  And there were swirls that went off these canvases that led to nothing.  So I grabbed two more canvases and continued the same.  The result: a pattern of four canvases, in pairs slightly offset from one another, that create a single piece with red tubes slithering from one canvas to the next to the third and back. 

I not only used all the spilled paint, but filled 4 canvases, creating a piece I never would have in other circumstances.  And, being 4 big canvases, it just happened to cover a good portion of that ugly ugly wall!

I’m curious to keep changing this up here and in future places as all four canvases can be rotated (all have to rotate the same way) new directions to create slightly new views of the whole.  Finished piece, but still loads of possibilities.

The solution came from a happy accident.  I was painting my balls (see post) in the basement and spilled a big pot of red paint.  You can’t exactly sweep paint so it was either use or let waste.  I used.  I grabbed a canvas I had nearby, among several I had just bought, and did a kind of curving shape on it, from one side curling around to another.  Liking that shape, and seeing the other canvases handy, I immediately thought “big picture” and grabbed a second canvas where the curling red shape would continue to swirl over from the first to the second.  Doing this I loved the way they looked next to each other, but they felt “not done”.  And there were swirls that went off these canvases that led to nothing.  So I grabbed two more canvases and continued the same.  The result: a pattern of four canvases, in pairs slightly offset from one another, that create a single piece with red tubes slithering from one canvas to the next to the third and back.  

I not only used all the spilled paint, but filled 4 canvases, creating a piece I never would have in other circumstances.  And, being 4 big canvases, it just happened to cover a good portion of that ugly ugly wall!

After living on the stairs for two years, the bottom two paintings got a little fuffed and dirty (which you can see pretty clearly above!).  So I added some color over the white area and am actually much happier with the piece now!

I’m curious to keep changing this up here and in future places as all four canvases can be rotated (all have to rotate the same way) new directions to create slightly new views of the whole.  Finished piece, but still loads of possibilities.