Robin Lea Pope

Robin Lea Pope 1961-2013, forever adored.

Robin on her wedding day. Acrylic on canvas 18"x24". 

 Detail

 Detail

Glass Palette

A glass-front dresser in the woods behind my house = a new glass palette! At 16"x28",  I'm oil-ready once again.

Wolf Boots and Gel Transfers

Before I got rid of a very beat up pair of old "casual" boots, I decided white wolf boots would be a much better fate. Here is a very brief description involving a gel transfer method. First I had to prime and paint the boots white. Cheap white acrylics and glazing liquid to stretch and smooth (avoiding water) gave the boots a thick and heavy sheen (I did about four coats). Transferring images can give you amazing results. This is my least favorite method, but I didn't have much of a choice. Using xylene or another [dangerous] transfer chemical usually gives a better, clearer, and hassle free result (AND YOU CAN SIMPLY WEAR A MASK AND GLOVES). Since the boot surface had become non-porous and very un-absorbant, ink from the image slid off using xylene, so it was not worth the battle. 

When I had toner based images prepared, I coated both the application area and the surface of the paper with Golden's regular gel and slapped them all over the boots, (flat with no air pockets) and allowed to dry for several hours. If this is for a paper on paper project, or anything 2d, it is an easy and beneficial method. Some people might even use a brayer to flatten. 

This is the part that is BS: Spend the next several months dampening the back of the paper and gently massaging off the fibers from the image -now simply just the toner gelled to the surface of the boot. You will have to do this in agonizing rounds of drying and re-dampening to see where the fibers that you still need to remove are located. When the images re-appeared to my liking, I clear-coated the boots. Note: this doesn't actually take literal months unless you take frequent hiatuses.

Then I wore the brand new WhiteWolfBoots to my sister's house, and she wanted a pair so badly I agreed to make them for her. Repeat process. 

Wolf boot love.