Painting on Burlap
Burlap paintings and linocut candle print
Let’s pay homage to the materials we use. I love painting on burlap because it is a medium that celebrates texture.
My first burlap painting outside of the class. I used a gold acrylic base over white gesso, and painted using acrylic paints with Flo-trol added.
I love attending "Bad Art Club” in Orange County, NC, with Shady Kimzy. These are free or sliding-scale classes for the public at which guest artists, or Shady themself, teaches their methods. I owe a lot to Shady - I met two close friends through Bad Art Club, my mom and I have had fun outings to the classes, and I have now learned two new techniques that I have incorporated into my artistic life.
One of these methods is painting on high-gauge jute burlap taken from large coffee sacks. We had the pleasure of learning from artist Sophie Crouse how to do so with acrylic paint. Sophie not only showed us their technique, but also the inspiration behind their approach, which embraces the roughness of the burlap when creating natural and semi-abstract imagery with a focus on jewel tone acrylic paints. Sophie explained their process of acquiring trashed burlap from coffee roasters, wetting and drying burlap on hot pavement in the sun, applying many layers of gesso, and then painting.
My mom and I took this class together, and we both leaned into the broad abstract, emulating Crouse. I went home and then tried my own version, playing around with paint additives because I wanted it to be easier to make fine lines and blend colors on the substrate. This leans a bit away from the intention of letting the substrate guide the line, but I’m stubborn and wanted a little more say.
Paintings completed in January of 2026, inspired by the Grand Convention of St. Anthony Hall, held at UNC’s chapter on the 100th anniversary of its refounding. These all used a gold acrylic base on white gesso. Left: architectural portrait of the Hall. Top center: The wandering St. Anthony and his swine. Bottom center: The wandering eye iconography. Right: The wandering eye iconography in Tarot style with other symbols.
The paintings in this series with round frames were painted as round paintings with the frames in mind. When I know I want to make a piece of art for an occasion, I often order the frame before I start the painting. I use the frame as inspiration for the color pallet, shape, size, and even emotional tone of the art. This is because I like to order the frames from Signed and Numbered “In Stock and Assorted Frames,” which are a frequently-changing selection non-standard frames that may be returned or cancelled custom orders. They are sold at a much lower price than they would cost if they were made custom, so it’s a (relative) bargain. The frames are high-quality, so I like to think of them as part of the piece. I also want my art to last a long time, so I prefer to frame it before sending it out into the world.
