Tasty Delicious
Karen Mason in collaboration with Margaret Dorfman
I am actively collaborating with fellow artist, Margaret Dorfman (https://www.margaretdorfman.com/) in creating these cocktail, fruit, and vegetable themed paintings that utilize a backdrop of parchment made from what you would find on your breakfast or dinner table. Margaret first transforms fresh fruit and vegetables (papaya, lemons, beets, radishes) into translucent parchment sheets through aging, drying and pressing which permanently preserves their botanical structure and natural colors. I then adhere the sheets to cradled wood panels, pour a thick layer of resin over the piece, and once dry I sand the surface to prepare it for the paint and ink. For this series, I primarily used ink with opaque, gouache to provide a semi-transparent effect that bridges somewhere between watercolors and oils. Shadows were finished in oil and a final pour of resin is applied, giving it a 3-dimensional feel with the upper layers of the painted subject popping above the lower layer of actual vegetables/fruit from which they were inspired. The piece is finished off with a final sanding and top layer that resembles encaustic but is more durable and soft to the touch.
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