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At the convention, Dan Falter, NGPP, Ohio, gave
an enlightening presentation about a type of acrylic artists'
paint called gouache (sounds like quash). Among
its many uses is coloring bolt-ends. Here is a pictorial
of my first experience with gouache.
Here's the basic setup: Nine tubes of various shades specifically recommended by Dan for their opacity and non-staining characteristics; a 3/4" wash-style brush; a couple of small glass bowls for mixing; a nifty cigar box for storage.
I started with water in the bowl and added color, but I have since learned that it's best to nail the color using just the paints, and then to thin with water to the needed consistency, which is about that of creamer.
The brush cost $12, which seems outrageous when you're used to paying that much for about five times as much brush, but a good tool is worth it's weight in gold, and this fine brush by Princeton is no exception.
Here we go: too cool! The material is an English pulp, by Morris & Co. It took about three dips of the brush to cover each bolt-end.
Here's one colored, one not. The hue in this picture is really weird, but disregarding the fact that my camera saw everything as purple instead of red, viva-la-difference! Notice that the gouache has bled onto the face of the paper on the right-hand bolt. It only did that on the first six or so inches, in other words, on the outer layer. Where the bolt was wrapped tightly, the color only bled into the edge. But no matter anyway, as the colors are opaque and non-staining, and will wash off of the surface anyway, even after they're dry. I colored these bolt-ends on the night before I hung the goods.
Here's the back side of a reverse-rolled stack of sheets. You can see the how deeply the color bled into the edges. Perfect.
[Russ at the wall.] We got a little over-confident about the gouache and decided that we could hang right over these mint-green walls (clear-primed) without striping the wall at the seams. Dan had said that the gouache will actually reconstitute a little bit as you wash the paper, and it will migrate onto the wall at the seams. So I thought, "Stripe, schmipe -- I'll just let the gouache bleed onto the wall." It didn't work, and where the paper occasionally shrunk, the bright wall showed through the gap. However, we were able to use the leftover gouache recipe to touch up any flubs or flaws. Otherwise, the stuff worked great. No white edges. Very cool. Thanks, Dan!
Bonus Photo: I hung this foyer about fifteen years ago in the same Holmdel, NJ house where I recently hung the red pulp in the above photos. A big thanks to Mike Romano, South Jersey NGPP, who helped me with this job back in the 80's. The material is paper-backed silk, and the scenes were hand-painted at Gracie Studios in New York, and then shipped to the jobsite as numbered panels accompanied by a rough drawing of the intended layout. The customer had paid thirteen-grand for the goods, and I was sweating bullets about the installation. With each piece an original, there was no such thing as a "mulligan." Mike patiently helped me through it, and I'm proud to say that the job today looks outstanding, even after more than a dozen years on the wall. Thanks, Mike!
"Sometimes the light's all shining on me, other times I can barely see,
Lately it occurs to me, what a long strange trip it's been."
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