How do I get myself into these things? A learning curve, I suppose. Early on in the process of working on Ampersand panels (actually the shadowboxes turned over), I covered the sides with blue masking tape……..it really bothered me and I couldn’t get away from the relationships of the color on the sides and what I was applying to the surface. I took it off and was fairly careful not to make too much of a mess. Now that I am through working on the panels, I decided they looked a little TOO raw birch so I thought I’d just stain them lightly with some gel clear maple stain and then paste wax them. Guess what…that darn gel is still sticky today and I ran a search and saw that it would have been best to wipe them down after 10-15 minutes. I don’t remember ever doing that in the past…and MinWax should make larger print on the directions on the can!

So I’ve been in the studio rubbing sides of panels with paint thinner and then sanding and needless to say this will be NOT be a good experience. I’ve learned my lesson and will make sure the sides are masked off with brown painter’s tape I found next time and there will be no gel stain on them either.

BTW……what kind of presentation and finishes are contemporary painters/artists using in your area? I had even considered wiping a little white glaze on these pieces at one time and then decided not to. I guess if I made a gazillion dollars I could have an assistant or send out for framing but since I don’t …guess it will just be me. Mostly I try not to frame but sometimes you just gotta!

Oh yeah….did you notice I changed the title of my blog….branding, that’s what Alyson Stanfield of ArtBizBlog calls it.

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