I promised you updates about my New Big Goal several months ago.
The Goal frightens and excites me: paint six large polar bears within a year.
An ambitious goal. Lots of questions. I don’t even know all the questions yet. But the bears must be portable and easy to transport. LARGE and portable.
Progress has been made.
Discovery
I discovered scrim in the Homer Alaska Pratt Museum. They used it as a translucent wall. The open random weave looked like a snow-blown day in the wintery arctic. A perfect ‘landscape’ for my polar bears. I contacted the manufacturer.
I tore down a shelf and made room in my studio to dedicate a whole wall to the scrim. Taped brown paper on the wall and floor to contain drips and splashes. Painting wildly is messy.
The scrim hangs neatly from a rod in the studio and is ready for color.
Bears can fly
I was completely absorbed in shaping my bear with pigment when the pole holding the banner suddenly slipped off the holder.
Pole, bear (and almost me) went flying.
It shook me up but no one was hurt. I had not replaced the end cap.
Lesson learned.
Painting in the sky
Standing on a ladder and reaching up with a big brush has it’s rewards.
The fabric is lightweight, springy and the rough texture grabs the paint from my brush. I feel like I’m painting in the sky.
Why are they called Kroma Bears?
I found paint in a most unexpected way. Wandering around Vancouver, my sister and I came across a little store named KROMA. Inside the walls held bins of color. Beautiful tubes of pigment stacked to the ceiling. A ladder on wheels was there to assist me. I could reach whatever color my heart desired.
They paint their sample cards of Kroma colors by hand. I like that kind of passion. They manufacture high quality artist’s acrylic paint in that little shop and sell it for wholesale prices to artists. They have been doing this for over forty years.
I chose several tubes of color and left with my prize, eager to see if I liked the consistency of the paint.
I love the paint and only use Kroma paint for my bears. It has intense color, wonderful consistency and an easy flip top cover so I can grab color quickly and not lose momentum. It has become my favorite paint and I placed a large order. I don’t ever want to run out of Benzi Orange or Cobalt Teal again!
Kroma or chroma means pure pigment or purity of color, from the greek word Khroma.
It was natural that my bears became Kroma Bears.
Thank you Jessica and the whole Kroma gang for making this quality paint.
Light makes dramatic changes
Kroma Bears can be rolled up and carried anywhere. They are easy to hang and display.
When they hang in front of a window they shimmer and change. Back light is different from front light and a combination of front and back light has it’s own appearance. These are not one dimensional bears. They dance to different colors because the translucent fabric is dramatically changed by the quality and direction of the light.
Fairbanks, Alaska
We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.
—Vince Lombardi
