Divinations, declarations, and whispers

Divinations, declarations, and whispers
mixed media on unstretched canvas
160x106cm/62.9x41.7"
Megan Chapman  

I spent the rest of last weekend making the seals for the bottom of the painting. Each one is hand stamped and painted. This week I went into the studio to apply them along the bottom of the piece. I also added any glue that was needed on the collage bits and did colour matching where the tape had been holding the canvas up against the painting wall. After that, I spray varnished the painting to protect and seal all the mixed media elements. You can watch the Tuesday Studio Video Visit below for a more in-depth discussion about this if you missed it on social media.

  

Today, I went back into the studio to check the varnish and give the piece a last once over to make sure the charcoal was properly sealed. I also wanted to go over it again with another coat of matte finish varnish. I recorded a couple of quick supplemental videos today that you can see here.

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And here

   

After I decided that I was pleased with the varnish and that everything else was in order, I decided to take the painting for a walk through the studio and take a couple of photos of it temporarily installed to get a better sense of it out in the world along with a few detail shots below. 

Thank you again to everyone who has been so interested and enthusiastic about this latest painting. It has been fun sharing this piece and the experience of creating it with you. 

A declaration

The new piece

The new piece in my studio for scale

   

The Tuesday Studio Video Visit

Example of wax seals to finish off the bottom of the painting

Example of wax seals to finish off the bottom of the painting

Seals I made today that I will adhere to the bottom of the canvas

Are they kings, queens, or something in between? I am not yet sure and everyone seems to come up with their own take. Are they wearing one crown or two? What are they thinking? Are they nice, mean, or ambivalent? Are they related or in some other sort of union? What is this painting all about? Balances of power, mystery, a declaration, an experiment? Do they know something we don't? Do I know something you don't? Do I know anything much at all? 

All I know is that I saw the impressionist exhibition on Sunday and went to sleep knowing I would go into the studio on Monday morning to paint and then I went back on Tuesday and painted some more and it was fun and bewildering. Then before I knew it I had a whole Pinterest board on wax seals - which I have loved for a while but now it's serious. 

And now I have made a rusted metal box full of them. I researched, I experimented, and now I think I have a solution. It's all fun and exciting and still bewildering... and maybe being bewildered is the right place to be. I didn't relax on the sofa on a Friday night and watch some bullshit - I made these seals and got hyped up. I listened to music while I made these (pictured above) and thought - this is what it feels like to be alive.

Besides the impressionist exhibition on Sunday I saw the fabulous Richard E. Grant on Thursday. Being enveloped in culture and humanity helps with the feeling alive part too. 

Things have changed, I do declare. 

Thanks to everyone for their enthusiasm for this latest work. I really appreciate it and can't wait to see where this path is taking us. Until next week, keep fighting.