Archangel Michael Icon

This is the final version of Archangel Michael Icon. I have changed the wings and modified slightly the red cape. I think this is better.

Comments????

Piscatory Road

Piscatory Road is an oil painting I finished a couple of months ago. This is a painting about atmospherics. Lots of small brush strokes and stand oil glazes. It is a large painting on PVC panel.

Let me know what you think!! Leave a Comment..

Archangel Michael Icon

This is a small Icon of the Archangel Michael. I've been working on it for a few days. It is egg tempera on poplar panel 10" x 8" and I've tried to remain true to the traditional methods regarding preparation of the panel and painting the figure in egg tempera.

Egg tempera is difficult because it drys so quickly. I can only prepare small amounts at one time because they dry in the pot after a couple of hours.

I still need to work on the the wings a few small details on the Icon. I want to use a warmer tone on the wings.

Comments or questions????

stone wall

No work in the studio today. I worked building a stone wall around the yard instead. Lots of work but I did enjoy it quite a bit. I like working with stone and would like to try some sculpture someday soon. Comments anyone???

Exhibition at Exploration Place

I had an exhibiton of 13 paintings ongoing at Exploration Place, a local interactive museum/education center here in Wichita. The exhibiton was supposed to last through the end of April. A couple of weeks into the exhibiton Exploration Place told me to remove the exhibit because they wanted to exhibit Steve Murillo's work instead. The few people who saw my paintings liked them and I was disappointed that they had to come down so quickly. I wish Exploration Place had honored it's agreement to exhibit my work through the end of April. Well, that's how it goes.

Jan Vavra, the other artist at James Butler Studios, had her paintings removed from Exploration Place also. She was equally disappointed that Exploration Place had broken it's contract with her to exhibit her work through the end of April.

Well, now we are looking for somewhere to park our paintings for a couple of months. I suppose they will wind up on the shelf in the studio instead of in exhibition.

wood panel preparation

The first step in preparing a wooden panel for use with egg tempera
is to seal the wood with rabbit skin glue.

Here is a recipe for rabbit skin glue. You can purchase the dry powder glue from
"Natural Pigments" which sells on the internet.

Ingredients:

rabbit skin glue (dry)
water
powdered alum

Mix One part dry powered glue to about 10 parts warm water
Let it set for at least two hours until it turns into a gel.
Warm the gel mixture (do not exceed 150 degrees) until it liquifies
Make an alum solution of one part alum to 25 parts water
Add alum solution in a 1 to five ratio to the glue solution.
Alum will make the glue waterproof
Paint the liquid glue onto the wooden panel and let it dry thoroughly.

I generally use either poplar or beechwood panels.

questions answered

Just a reminder to let you know that we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about egg tempera or oil painting. James Butler Studios is located along the bank of the Little Arkansas River north of Wichita Kansas. We are a group of two artists who work and reside at the studio.

Post any questions in the comments section and they will be answered promptly.

Grandma's Legacy

Grandma's Legacy is a small 5" X 7" oil on canvas painting done by Jan Vavra who works in James Butler Studios. She will soon be teaching a class about the techniques used in this painting. In the class, the students will do a painting of their own based on Grandma's Legacy.

If you have any questions about this painting please leave them in the comments section and Jan will answer them.

Art Questions

I'm still looking for people who want advice about painting with egg tempera on wooden panels or oil painting. I did paint some more on the impressionist figure study I'm doing with egg tempera on wood panel. Hope to post some photos soon.

Leave questions in the comments area and I will answer them asap.

Icon Boards

I've been trying to have some blank Icon boards made locally. I want to try to replicate (as much as possible) 11th century icon painting technique. So the boards should be made from beech or poplar and should have oak cross braces in the back. The first two places I went didn't want to make them. There were production woodshops. I suspect the order was too small for them to mess with. However, I have now found an independent woodworker near where I live who is looking at someway to make them for me. Hope he won't be too expensive.

If you have any questions about painting icons please leave me a quesiton in the comments and I will answer it.

Art Advice

No photos to post today. If anyone wants technical advice re: oil painting or egg tempera please leave a comment and I will answer your querry. Hope to hear from you soon.

My Studio - James Butler Studios

Here is a photo of James Butler Studios. It is situated along the Little Arkansas River just north of Wichita, KS. Last summer I added the patio in front of the french doors. In the middle of the patio is buried a 100 year time capsule - something we did a few months ago.

Monday Icon Michael Archangel

Damp cold weather today. A few sketches only. Perhaps tomorrow will be better weather and I can work more in the studio. Still have a few things to do with Icon Michael Archangel.

icons and impressionist painting - Final Friday Comments

Since it has been raining all day I have spent my time in the studio working on two completely diverse projects. I finished the Icon of Michael the Archangel (soon to post a photo) and worked some more on the egg tempera impressionist painting on the wood panel.

Then we went to lunch a quincys bar and grill and talked about renovating the kitchen.

A note about the Final Friday gallery crawl last Friday. We stopped by Exploration Place to look at our work (mine and Jan's) which we had delivered two days earlier. None of my work had gallery cards which would include prices, media etc and there were no signs directing visitors to the gallery. Also, there was nothing in the Friday Wichita Eagle about the exhibition. On the positive side, we did get to meet the new Director - Al Meloni and he seemed very impressed by out work in general. There was some discussion about painting another mural at Exploration Place. Hope it works out.

Spoke to Marilyn Grisham at the Fiber Studio on Commerce Street. She said she had looked at my promo CD and had no interest in exhibiting my work. Perhaps her gallery would not be the best venue for my work anyway. She is seldom open and rarely sells anything because she never promotes exhibitions.

WSU shift space did have some interesting pieces by KU grad students. They are starting to have some very good exhibitions on Final Fridays. Hope to see more of them.

Well, enough of that. Let me know if anyone out there has been on a recent Final Friday gallery crawl.

oil painting restoration

Today I worked restoring a painting that I finished a few years ago. It was the first painting using oil on PVC panel that I tried. Apparently the primer was not the correct one to use with PVC as the linseed oil had started to leach from the oil colors. I changed primers long ago so that problem has long ago been corrected. Anyway, I was able to repaint a the few places that were damaged on the painting and it now looks like new. After it dries for a few weeks, I will recoat the painting the retouch varnish.

I anyone else has used oil on PVC panel please let me know if you have had the same problem.