Marbled Rainbow: Blue

Blue, 2'X4' Acrylic on wood panel (The photos are dark, taken in artificial light for now.)

I have been sitting with these panels in my living room for several months now. Tonight I finally was given the sense of what to do next. I darkened the corners and edges. Then I added gold leaf (spirit) to the actual edge of the panel (think like a gold leafed Bible), and added a few gold spots on the actual painting.The result, for me, is one of peace and greater depth. I like the idea of leaving the marbling alone, for people to find their own subjects within. The focal point then becomes whatever the person sees. Somehow these boundaries provide the permission, the safety to have a deeper look and seek meaning.

The daunting task of framing these 2'X4' panels has been a large part of why I have not even wanted to touch them. The last panel I tried to frame took 3 attempts, and ultimately I wasn't even satisfied with that frame. It just wasn't the look I was going for.

In a way, the treatment of the edges eliminates the need for a frame. I might float them by gluing long strips of wood along the middle insides of the edges. One of the strips would have a notch which would support the nail. The others would balance the painting against the wall on all sides, giving it the look of floating off the wall.

Late spring I thought about selling these. But now I am thinking about what it would be like to work around them, as I had originally intended. I sit in a board room with wonderful natural light, and pretty stark walls. Many times I have sat there wondering about the spacing of these panels in that room. (How many could it handle? Where would they look best? In what direction would they hang?) There is also a long hallway out the back door, where they could be used as originally intended, a way of cleansing the body/mind/spirit after certain sessions. I guess my new work family would have to want them all there...and they are a commanding set. I can just see it now: Our clients affected by agoraphobia and OCD might want to steer clear. It's one thing to sit with ambiguity, quite another to look directly into it.