Broome’s annual Shinju Matsuri Art Awards presented an exciting opportunity for me to create and display, in a competitive environment, a large painting using the Acrylic pouring techniques learnt over the past 6 months.
Continuing along my theme in previous paintings of showcasing Broome’s beautiful beaches, I decided on Colours of Cable (Beach). It had to be big and eye catching, so I decided on the Turquoise waters with foaming white capped waves, and Golden sands of Cable Beach featuring a hint of Pindan run off. I constantly went over the composition and preparation in my mind so as to minimise any potential issues associated with covering such a big canvas.
A large canvas was not commercially available so a custom 85cm x 1450mm stretched canvas was made with the generous input of Neil at Printing Ideas in Broome. The canvas was prepped and the paints mixed, lots of paint. I realised after the first couple of cup pours I would run out of paint (panic), so there was a hasty mix of additional paint which was in complete contrast to my original meticulous paint mix.
Funnily enough, managing the large canvas presented minimal issues, with paint overflow limited to the table tops and drop sheets positioned to save the tiled floor from becoming another “work of art”. The job was done and the finishing touches applied.
I watched “my baby” dry and come to life over the next couple of weeks before a matte varnish was applied to seal the project.
After another week of preening and pampering, the deadline for delivery of my competition piece had arrived. As luck would have it, the canvas fitted perfectly flat and tight in the back of my Hyundai Getz, but only after the back seats were folded down and the front seats moved forward as far as they would go.
With chest cramped against steering wheel and excessive revving during gear changes, I arrived at the Broome Civic Centre, excited and relieved that my artwork had made it in one piece. Looking forward to Monday's opening night of the week long Shinju Matsuri Art Awards exhibition, featuring stunning artwork by the Kimberley's extraordinary art community.
