As an American abstract artist, I spend a lot of time visiting art galleries and museums. The first time I saw a contemporary painting with epoxy resin, it took my breath away. In 2010 I decided to work with epoxy resin. I actually learned how to use it by watching you tube demonstrations. Epoxy resin is an art medium mixed with a hardener and poured onto a piece of art. Epoxy resin when wet is extremely toxic. At first when painting with it, I used no protection. During those two months I ended up covered in a rash. I was given information that it was doing more damage to my organs then the rash was doing to my skin. Now, when painting with resin, I use a full face mask respiration system and protected wear.
The first time I poured resin it was a mess, sticky an gooey. As I worked with it, it got easier to use. I painted the blue painting below, Quiet Wave and covered it with epoxy resin. The resin gives shine and depth to oil paint and what excited me about Quiet Wave was the bubble seen close up here.
Next I experimented with adding oil paint to the poured resin. The oil paint heavy with resin sunk to the middle of the canvas while drying overnight. This gave the paintings on canvas unforeseen results. I could hardly wait to run to my art studio in the morning to see the art created by resin. The green in Ebbtide became a rich yellowish green that I have never been able to replicate. The ghost like yellowish color in Emerging Butterfly was an unexpected outcome due to the movement of the resin.
There is so much to learn with epoxy resin. My mishaps often became my best works. Though it takes 12 – 24 hours to dry completely, while painting with resin, it hardens quickly. I found that if I didn’t complete what I was working on in 15 minutes, the resin would clump. And when clumpy the mixture of oil paint with resin can only be pushed around for a few minutes. I had planned to toss the below paintings out after they dried, but upon viewing them the next day decided they were better than many I had painted before.