Mono-Transfer Strappo

I have been providing lessons on how to create a Strappo and realized that I have modified the technique in a natural progression that I thought I would explain here.

Briefly, Strappo’s are a monotype from a dry acrylic transfer. An acrylic painting is developed and painted in reverse on a clear glass plate. When the image is fully formed and dry, to thicken the acrylic skin, successive layers of acrylic gesso are added. For the transfer process, fresh coats of acrylic gesso are applied both to the back of the glass plate and on the sheet where the image will be placed. The plate is placed on the prepared surface while the fresh gesso surfaces are still wet. Weights are placed to insure contact while the gesso layers bond. After the acrylic layers are bonded, the image and attached surface will be peeled from the glass. It is exactly the image as painted. The image, a monotype, is now transferred and the glass plate is clean. The surface of the image is smooth because it was developed on the smooth surface of the glass. A great advantage is that it does not require the use of a press.
Sailing

The modifications are created when I add collage and drawing elements to the mix. By first coating the glass surface with a polymer (and letting it dry thoroughly) I am able to create a surface that I can draw on. I use permanent markers to sketch out gestural images and objects and I have also experimented with crayons and lithography pencils. I then coat the surface with polymer and again let it dry.
Blue-Flowers1

When I want to add collage elements the layering process starts again. For the Floral pieces I create, I use acrylic paint chips from dried pigment on my palette. This is great for the leaves and blossoms of plants. They are set in place using polymer and then coated with the same medium. Wallpapers in rooms are often designed with pre-painted newspaper or magazine clippings. These collage elements are treated and adhered in the same way as the floral works, alternating layers of polymer with the pieces of ephemera.
Red-Flowers1

The only other adaptation is that after all is said and done instead of adhering the glass to a surface for weights and drying, I peel the image from the glass and then apply it to a new surface. This can be paper, material and even an existing painting. While these are still Strappo’s,  I have also begun to refer to them as  Mono-Transfers.
You can see additional examples of Strappo’s and my other artwork at donaldkolberg.com. And feel free to email me with any questions.

Zombies on the Walls: Why Does So Much New Abstraction Look the Same?

*This article appears in the June 16, 2014 issue of New York Magazine. I read it at http://www.vulture.com/2014/06/why-new-abstract-paintings-look-the-same.html. You can see the accompanying slide show at their site.

For the past 150 years, pretty consistently, art movements moved in thrilling but unmysterious ways. They’d build on the inventions of several extraordinary artists or constellations of artists, gain followings, become what we call a movement or a school, influence everything around them, and then become diluted as they were taken up by more and more derivative talents. Soon younger artists would rebel against them, and the movement would fade out. This happened with Impressionism, Postimpressionism, and Fauvism, and again with Abstract Expressionism after the 1950s. In every case, always, the most original work led the way.

Now something’s gone terribly awry with that artistic morphology. An inversion has occurred. In today’s greatly expanded art world and art market, artists making diluted art have the upper hand. A large swath of the art being made today is being driven by the market, and specifically by not very sophisticated speculator-collectors who prey on their wealthy friends and their friends’ wealthy friends, getting them to buy the same look-­alike art.

Continue reading Zombies on the Walls: Why Does So Much New Abstraction Look the Same?

Giorgio Morandi

Recently I was introduced to the work of Giorgio Morandi. And now I find I can’t get enough of seeing his art. The colors and composition gave me a sense that this was a master artist that I could spend a lifetime studying. His influence will stay with me and I hope that this brief introduction to the man and his art will provide you with the enjoyment I have felt in discovering him.

Giorgio Morandi lived from July 20, 1890 to June 18, 1964. His paintings depicted everyday objects that he collected and used over and over again in surprisingly complex compositions. Morandi’s sensitivity to tone and color, his repetitive motifs and his economical use of value and surface lend him to being perceived as a forerunner of Minimalism. Continue reading Giorgio Morandi

Giorgio Morandi

Recently I was introduced to the work of Giorgio Morandi. And now I find I can’t get enough of seeing his art. The colors and composition gave me a sense that this was a master artist that I could spend a lifetime studying. His influence will stay with me and I hope that this brief introduction to the man and his art will provide you with the enjoyment I have felt in discovering him.

Giorgio Morandi lived from July 20, 1890 to June 18, 1964. His paintings depicted everyday objects that he collected and used over and over again in surprisingly complex compositions. Morandi’s sensitivity to tone and color, his repetitive motifs and his economical use of value and surface lend him to being perceived as a forerunner of Minimalism. Continue reading Giorgio Morandi

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