Drawing and painting on plexi.

On the left is "Eve" and on the right is "Adam", no religious connotations, just figure drawings and color studies. The original drawing was done with oil paint markers on the inside of the plexi. There are two sheets of plexi glued together on both pieces. All of the painting is then done with the oil paint markers and acrylic paints on the backside of the front sheet of both paintings and then I glue it together. I keep the painting sealed between two sheets of plastic for the archival protection of the paint and the glossy surface of the plastic. A polymer beam is drilled with holes and glued to the back of both paintings to hang it from. Copper wire is strung through the holes in both the hanging beam and the support beam on the back of the painting.

The painting "Gold Abstract" is done much the same way with the painting on the inside of two sheets of plastic. The hanging system is made of polymer cubes that have been drilled and cut with a V shape to catch a nail. When in galleries, I always look at the backs of artworks to see how they are hung!

The paintings "Burst" and "Self with Blue Hair" are both done on the front side of the plexi. First, I sand the surface of the plastic to give it some tooth to hold the paint. I clean it up with alcohol or soap (Dawn works best) and water and then I am ready to paint. "Burst" is drawn in mostly colored pencil and oil paint markers on a sheet of plastic that was supposed to be an airplane window, but wound up at the dump. I have use two-part epoxy glue to hold on the glass marbles, plastic cubes and a strip of copper that has been tooled. The final product was sprayed with a clear acrylic finish.

Drawing and painting on clay

The last two images are both made from clay. The raku tile on the left was painted with commercial glazes. I used a red cone 04 glaze, copper luster, clear glaze and a glazing pen. Raku is a low fire process where the bisqued clay is heated up to a temperature where the glaze melts and then it is submerged into a canister of burnables. The lid is put on the canister and the piece of clay absorbs the smoke and carbons giving it a distinctive black claybody were ever there isn't glaze. The other tile is stoneware and has a figure study drawn on it. I use a high fire glazing pencil and a clear glaze was fired on at cone 10.

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Copyright © 2001 Suzi Rhae
Questions and comments to: suzirhae@hotmail.com
Last modified March. 2001