Art is a kind of illness. ~Giacomo Puccini

Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. ~Stella Adler

When I work, I work very fast, but preparing to work can take any length of time. ~Alice Neel

I’ve always reused jars from home for containing my turpenoid and mixing medium. It saves quite a bit of money, especially since I don’t like to clean them out. I just grab another one that I’ve saved on my shelf and throw the other one out.

I saved a Kikkoman soy sauce container and am now using it for my medium. I poured the medium inside, mixed it with a stick, put on the cap, covered the two holes with my fingers and shook it really hard.

It’s really convenient to just pour the medium onto the colors on my palette. It’s less messy and because the holes are small, you have control of how much you want to pour. You can just put a little piece of tape on top if you want to cover the holes. I’ve been using mine for a few days and haven’t had to cover it. But would recommend covering it if you aren’t going to be using it everyday.

There are certain words that really bother me, make me cringe, or even hold my breath when I hear them. A lot of people have the same issue with certain curse words, especially women with words like cunt or pussy as an example.

I am really bothered when people use the word “style” when referring to a fine artist’s work. I will usually correct someone when using this, especially when referring to my own work. I guess you could just call me a “fine art snob”.

One of the major distinctions between illustration and fine art is that illustrators have a specific style in how they work, while a fine artist “reacts” and “approaches” subject matter. Yes, a lot of fine artists have similiarity within their work but it is not stylized unless influenced specifically by illustration.

Personally, there is a wide variety within my work because I approach things based on the concept and subject matter. I don’t want to force a “style” just to create consistency within all bodies of work. I think it’s important to have an honest reaction to your subject matter, even if that means that you have many different approaches with all your work.

Please, please when you are discussing fine art use the word “approach” instead of “style”.

Another phrase that really bothers me is when people say “artsy fartsy”. It is a repulsive term. It really undermines the fine art and makes it seem like you are dismissing it as low-brow or bullshit art. I know it’s usually used in a more playful manner but I am very bothered by this term no matter how it is used. I think it’s much worse when an artist refers to himself or herself as being “artsy fartsy”. Why can’t you just say artistic or creative?

One more thing that drives me crazy is what many artists write for their artist statement. This really isn’t a pet peeve word, but it makes me roll my eyes every time I read the sentence. “I have been creating art since I was a kid…..” “Every since I can remember I have been painting” “I started drawing when I was 5 years old…”. Don’t write this EVER in an artist statement!

EVERY artist started drawing when they were a kid. Actually every body on earth started drawing when they were a kid. You shouldn’t talk about artwork you did as a kid unless you are still a kid or teenager. I even see artists that are in their 40s that still have this in their artist statement.

You don’t even need any information about high school in there. Just put a quick sentence on what degree you have if you went to college. That is good enough. Move on. Talk about what you’ve been doing since you have been a serious artist. Of course it is okay to mention childhood if your work is influenced by it, but don’t say you’ve been painting since you were a kid. It’s a given.

There are other pet peeve words or sentences in relation to fine art that bother me, but these are the major ones that always come to mind and unfortunately I see or hear way too often.

I’ve been doing some research on how an artist can repair their own damaged paintings. After a few hours, I finally found a detailed method of repair for flaking and blistering on an oil painted canvas. Here is the information gathered from restoration-advice.org

Flaking and Blistering

When the paint is flaking, blistering or scaling, a condition in which the paint and ground lifts from the canvas, due to the deterioration of the ground (then material used to smooth the canvas before the painting was applied).
The paint then is re-adhered to the painting by strengthening this ground.
This is usually done by impregnating the area with a mixture of Beeswax and Damar resin, known as the Dutch Method.
We recommend the impregnate most canvasses with this mixture as it prevents deterioration of the canvas and the ground, as well as the overall conservation/ preservation of the whole painting.
Beeswax and Damar are molten and mixed together by heating firstly the Damar until dissolved and then slowly adding the Beeswax.

This mixture is applied warm ( 70° -80°C or 160°-175° F).
A mixture such as above doesn’t shrink upon solidifying.

Epoxy is sometimes used in those sort of repairs, as it also is non-shrinking due to the lack of an evaporative vehicle, it (epoxy) solidifies by chemical reaction, however great care should be taken with the use of such materials, as those restorations are non-reversible, and no long term experience is available, while contrary to claims, epoxies do deteriorate.
I personally like to dissolve some of this Beeswax and Damar mixture with some pure turpentine and then flood the flaking area with a brush very carefully so as not to disturb the loose pieces but still let the mixture impregnate the area behind and around the flakes and blisters.

Those flakes can then be re-adhered and flattened with a heated palette knife.
After thorough drying I paste some paper over this section, for protection, then after drying I apply paper over the whole painting, this protects the texture of the painting during the ironing process.

Then after drying I turn the picture over and apply the mixture of Beeswax and Damar warm ( 70° -80°C or 160°-175° F ) on the back, then with an Electric Iron, I iron the area down so as to impregnate the whole picture with this preservative mixture, this flattens and re-adheres the blisters and flakes back against the now impregnated and strengthened ground.
Those with flat heated platen can of course do this by vacuum pressing the painting against those platen, this also allows the painting to maintain its texture.

After cooling I then carefully wash the paper away, the examine the result to determine the further processes needed to complete the restoration.
The reason I prefer this, Dutch Method, is that it is reversible, one can always reheat an area and relocate any pieces of flakes, which are not where one wanted them, something which is impossible if epoxy is used.

I have not yet tried this method. I have a large painting that has been rolled up in storage for several years now and it has some flaking that I’d like to correct. Although the painting is quite large, I don’t consider it an “important” piece of my portfolio, so I’m not so worried about the outcome of the repairing the damage. The only worry that I have, is if the painting will crack or flake again if it is rolled and put in storage.

By the way, I do not sell paintings that have cracks or flakes in them. I’ve only had one painting with this problem and it was due to handling and storage when moving to many different studios over the years. I also don’t recommend for art buyers to repair oil paintings themselves. You should contact the original artist, if possible, and/or a fine art conservator.

I will post an update once I am finished repairing the painting.

-Jessica