Experiments and Explorations: Grid Painting v 1.0

Planning ahead for a summer trip, I wondered if I could create a painting out of a grid of smaller canvases.

It would make for easier transporting on a plane or via postal service, than a larger canvas I am used to painting upon.

In reviewing images from the Fall, from which I might paint, I realized that there were two views from the beach in Nahant's sand bar, which were almost the same, save for the fact that one view faced the ocean, and the other faced the shore. Aligning the images in photoshop, and then using Indesign to overlay a grid, I reprinted the inspiration photos for reference.

How cool would it be to mix and match squares from each grid, strengthening one's experience of the space between the views? Or perhaps the grid could explode and disperse itself along a wall? Before trying these displays out, I needed to solve the canvas management challenge- how to herd 16 canvases and keep them in both vertical and horizontal alignment while painting.

Left over from my design school days, most mockups and problems can be solved with a utility knife and foamcore. I went to work cutting a foam core back 2' x 2' and 1" wide strips for the outer edges of the frame as well as interior dividers within the frame- holding each canvases apart. For good measure I placed some small wooden shims at the vertical seams for extra reinforcing and tied everything together with painter's tape. It held, but creaked with each stroke and rustled back and forth while painting- a bit distracting.

By the time I had finished the first painting (image on the wall-- see grid version 2.0 for attachment method), the foam core frame was reaching its limits. The interior temporary grid separations started popping up mid brush stroke. The shims seen in the first image for more reinforcing popped completely out. The unsteady nature of the structure combined with the unsteady aspects of the portable easel made for less than confident painting. At one point I moved the 2nd piece here (image on the wall) and its foam core frame to the ledge and bookshelf in the living room for stability. Foam core was a temporary solution. I would be looking for something more stable long-term.