So this is the state of my dining room table this morning. I have been struggling for a couple of weeks now to get back to where I was with acrylic pouring before I left Toronto, and I am beyond frustrated. The thing is, with acrylic pouring it’s all about the chemical interactions between the paints themselves, and between the paints and the other substances we use to pour the painting. I can’t get the materials here I used in Canada, so I’ve been experimenting with alternatives.

Finally this week, I found a pouring medium in an art supply store I hadn’t visited yet — and what a treasure trove that turned out to be! It’s not the brand I’ve used before, but it’s at least made for the purpose. OK.

However, there is also a huge difference among the various brands of paint, whether it’s in Canada or down here or anywhere else. In other words, a lot of experimentation is called for. That would be fine if I had lots of time. However, I’m having my first big party in this apartment on Friday night, and the walls are almost empty. It desperately needs at least something over my famous red couch. I’ve actually produced some small pieces that are OK, but instead of gradually working my way up to the big canvas, I dived right in — big mistake. First, I really don’t have space to do something that is 60 cm x 160 cm, so I pushed furniture around and made space on the floor. Then I put a cushion inside a plastic bag so I could kneel on it.

Reaching across the canvas was bad enough, but you also have to tilt these canvases to get certain effects, and it was way too big and heavy. The fact that the paint was way too thick didn’t help. So, as I often do, I rushed in where angels fear to tread, and the result was an epic fail.

Still determined to get something over the couch, I mixed up some new paint last night, ready to work today on a 40 cm x 80 cm canvas. I have a feeling I don’t like this white paint, but we’ll see.

And once I’ve done something on that, I’m going back to the big one to see what I can do to rescue it — every time I pass it by I tell the canvas, “This is not over.”

Stay tuned.