Hollywood Slots Bangor


~ Home ~ Galleries ~ Price List ~ ~ Exhibitions ~ Pastel Fun ~ About the Artist ~ Contact the Artist ~ ~ Letters/Replies ~ Email Updates ~ Free Art ScreenSaver ~ Postcards ~

Just Add Water Hollywood Slots Bangor, Maine
Part 2 The first half of the actual process of creating the art involved preparing the panels to accept pastel, washing in a background color, transferring my original image to the large panels and applying gold leaf. The second half of the process involves painting with pastels. The inspiration comes from a variety of real stones and shells, numerous of my reference photos, and the small scale panels I created for the original proposal.

March 18, 2008 I begin with two adjacent panels so am working on an image that is 8 feet wide by 7 feet high. You can see how these panels progressed.
I begin by using a variety of colors to create the sandy background.
I then paint the shells...
sea glass...
and stone. The two panels are completed.

Closer details
March 23, 2008 I slide the completed right-hand panel over to the left and put up the next panel.
Several people comment that it must be easier to paint the panels that are mostly sand as compared to the ones filled with stones and shells. No, not really. It's a challenge to paint something that is essentially nothing...like sand. It must be interesting and not flat and drab. There is TONS of color and variety in that sand!

I apply the color with the side of the pastel sticks in broad strokes. Later the colors are blended more smoothly with the pastels themselves and with my hand.


March 28, 2008 I always paint with music playing. This is some of the musical inspiration for this project. Classic rock and the blues get me going.
The process continues...one panel and one stone at a time.


	Here you can see several of the color palettes I'm using for various stones and shells. I also have several reference photos nearby. Though it may seem odd to have a carpet in this dusty space, it is crucial for pastel artists to have a cusioned surface. Otherwise when the pastels start flying, and they do, we would end up with pastel shards rather than sticks when they hit the floor.
April 1, 2008 Today I work on the large sand dollar. Using my original scaled panel, I choose a beginning color palette.
I begin by blocking in the background colors by laying them side by side with the broad side of my sticks. There is little blending at this point.
I begin to soften the colors by blending the egdes of them together.
I refine edges by sharpening some and losing others, add shadows and details for depth... and the sand dollar is finished.
	April 3, 2008 I begin with a shell that bisects both panels.
	I lay in the dark values first.
	I'm just getting the local colors down at this point.
	Roughly laying them in next to each other.
	Adding more color and a bit of blending as I build up the layers of pastel to achieve the richness I want.
	To keep the colors pure much of the blending is done with the pastels themselves.
	The shell is completed.
April 4, 2008 Another panel complete.
Some of the details
I apply the gold leaf in three different ways to achieve three different effects. Here I cover nearly the entire stone with adhesive. I later apply the leaf by slightly overlapping the small squares into a solid block of gold.
April 7, 2008 Spring has arrived...along with the bees...
...and more pastels!	This time Terry Ludwig turqoise in warm and cool tones.
I continue to work on the 16 panels.
I have taped them to a wall nearby. As I work on a panel or a pair of them, I tape them to a piece of mat board and hold them in one hand while I paint with the other. Here you see panels 12 and 13.
I begin the panel that includes the tip of the lobster claw. The claw is over 7 feet long and spans three panels.
I work first on the objects that connect with the previos panel.
Putting in the dark shadows first...
and working my way across to the right of the panel.
At the beginning of this project I was talking with my friend, Bruce, a professional photographer/photo-illustrator. I was wishing I had a reference photo of a lobster claw. Within minutes this, a photo Bruce had recently taken, arrived in my In Box. Thanks, Santa Claws.	April 14, 2008 The initial colors chosen to begin the lobster claw.
The claw panel continues...

The color palette for the entire piece continues to grow as the panels progress. If a stone spans two panels, the color needs to be consistent. In order to find the colors I used to create the first half of the stone, I keep separate palettes. These meat trays worked well.
As the claw grows, so does the color palette for it.
The beginning
The middle
The end
The claw ends on the next panel.

	At the end of a day, this is how the color palette ends up...
...and this is how I end up.
Claw parts 1 and 2
	April 21, 2008 Because of the size of each panel, part of each day is spent on a step ladder and part on my knees.
The initial layers	The blended layers
The Details Here I apply the gold leaf adhezive with a small brush. When the leaf is later removed, all that remains are the thin irregular lines mimicking the striations of the rock.

The last bit of the claw end is finished along with its panel.
April 28, 2008 From sketch...
to shadows...
to blending.
Caught...with my hand in the candy jar. Looks like it's time for a refill.
This panel progresses from sketch...




...to completion. For the stone on the right, the gold leaf adhesive was dabbed on with a natural sea sponge to give an irregular and random appearance to the mottled stone.
Incorporating more and more colors.	There's a good reason for the gloves. Protection from abrasion and pigment.
May 1, 2008 The following is the progression of panel 13.


	Shell detail
The progression of panels 13 and 14.

Since the easel can accomodate 2 panels side by side, it is easy to match up adjacent panels. Not so easy to match top and bottom panels, but even with limited space, I managed.
It is important that the objects in the image are consistent from panel to panel in terms of placement and color in order for the whole piece to be cohesive once it's installed together as a polyptich.
May 4, 2008	The sea urchin begins with its raised "stripes."
	Shading is added to give it form and depth
	Local color is built up.
	Layers are added for richness of color and to create the illusion of depth.
	The urchin is completed with some of the background wash showing through the pastels so this solid object appears delicate.


Some details of the panel.
May 20, 2008 Most of the panels are completed. In order to have a visual record of each panel, I bring them outside to photograph them in natural light. They are large and light and act as a sail in the slightest breeze! Luckily my husband Doug helps hold on while I snap photos.
I also photographed indoors...just in case.
Detail of the white pine cone, part of our Maine state flower.
	My signature. The finishing touch? I thought so...
Last minute check of 4 panels.
Still checking even as I pack panels into the carrier for transport to the framers.
After much discussion of the pros and cons, because of the size of the panels and the height at which half of them were to be installed, the framers and I decided to go with Conservation Plexiglass. We were eagerly awaiting the springtime production of Museum Plexiglass in sheets large enough to meet our needs, but due to glitches in production, that product wasn't ready in time for our deadline.
The framers went to great lengths to work with me in getting the art to look its best. In order to facilitate our decision, they framed the first two panels, one with regular (left) and the other with non-glare plexiglass (right). Side by side like this, it was immediately obvious that non- glare was the way to go. Because of the scale of the objects, distortion from the non-glare coating was minimal and the benefits apparent.
May 2, 2008. All 16 panels are at the framers being worked on. I talk with my artist friend, Kathy, about the project and she has an idea. She thinks it would be so cool if my signature looked like it was written in the sand. Brilliant! I wish I'd thought of that. I make a quick call to the framers who tell me that 15 panels are completed. The only one they have left to frame is...the one with my signature. Perfect! It was meant to be. I go back to get it.
The most obvious way to make my signature look like it's written in sand is to "write" it in the pastel sand. So I crush pastel sticks in three values for light and shadows.
I dip my finger in and write.
With a little more dipping, I've got subtle shadowed areas that form valleys in the sand and highlighted areas that catch the "sunlight." For me, it's touches like this that add the zing! Thanks go to my brilliant friend.
June 2008 Summer has arrived. The 16 panels are framed and awaiting completion of the rotunda area at Hollywood Slots, Bangor so that we may begin the installation.
	After completing a safety orientation, I learn I will need a hard hat. Once again my infinitely creative artist friend comes through...and I receive my own personalized hard hat in the mail. How cool is that?
Dave Ellis, owner of Bangor Frameworks, begins the installation.	Jim Lardie, also of Bangor Frameworks, works up high...relatively...while Dave is below.
Now we're talking high. Are you okay up there, guys?	I get the 'thumbs up' from both.
There they are! Dave and Jim...a great team. How many more panels to go?
There is about 4 feet deep of space to work in in the round rotunda area. Part of the space is taken up by 16 individual LCD lights evenly spaced along the floor and 16 more coming down from the ceiling area.
Side by side panels spaced 4" apart on the round wall.	Top to bottom panels also spaced 4" apart.
Three days later, we were three happy gamblers having successfully installed all 16 panels safely, straightly and without a hitch. A million thanks to Dave and Jim for their perfectionism and professionalism both in framing and installing the art ...and for being a couple of great guys to work with.
	I go back later that evening to meet with Eric Taggart and his crew of lighting technicians. We want everything to look just right. The LCD lights are the newest technology, produce minimal heat and can be manipulated in a variety of ways. Eric adjusts the color temperature and brightness so that the art work looks just as it is intended.
June 29, 2008 After four seasons and many months of planning and execution, the day of the unveiling arrives. The entire window has been covered with a curtain since the installation began, so I will be as surprised as everyone to see what the finished piece looks like all together from afar.

Doug and I savor the moment with family and friends.
And I finally see that the scale model I created all those months ago...	...fits.
Just Add Water

Back to Part 1
With heartfelt and sincere thanks to the powers that be at Penn National Gaming for their vision in providing a space for a public work of art for the city of Bangor and all who visit there ...and for choosing me to fill it. It has been my pleasure.
Additional photos taken by and my thanks to Kathy Mallat, Bruce McMillan and Linda Vanags.