Francoise

I'm often asked how I turn a blank piece of canvas into a painting. The answer is different for each piece, or group of pieces. I will try to describe my process in this book and describe how I created my "Series on Burlap."The Burlap Series consists of fourteen St. Augustine scenes on burlap. This was a collaborative effort with my photographer/husband Rob. We wanted to produce original pieces that convey the historic feel and texture of old St. Augustine.We reviewed many types of surfaces and decided burlap had the feel and texture of Coquina, so prevalent in St. Augustine. However, the porous texture of the burlap did not adhere well to traditional stretchers, so we had to improvise. We finally decided to wrap the burlap around a Masonite board. Next we experimented with various methods of providing a clean paintable area to apply the final painting. Again the porosity of the burlap material proved difficult. We finally decided to print and glue the image on top of the burlap.I then used oil paints to paint broad strokes of color and texture atop the print. The result is an image that combines the fine details of a photograph and yet contain the the colorful, texture that I enjoy painting.