Sometimes an artist just needs to stretch their creative muscles and experiment, especially if they haven’t in a while. I normally paint on clothing; in this case I exclusively used a fitted bedsheet. The stretcher is a section of a wooden interior door that I hollowed out. I also experimented with using metallic oil paint that is intended to only be used on metal just to see how it would sit on top of the latex base paint. Spray paint was also used but only for a layering effect. The spray paint hardened the canvas in a way that I didn’t expect, giving the surface a smoother sheen.
I first finished the work in 2001. I even titled it “I found my compass only after I stopped looking” only to go over it again in 2002 with the splashes of gray and green paint. I renamed it “It’s a Sailboat” which is a shorter title but far more sarcastic. The experimentation here provided me with some new techniques that I still use, which is a great reason to go outside of your norms and experiment.