I’ve been invited to create and complete a new piece live in 3 hours for a benefit towards the Jonah’s Just Begun foundation which fundraises to support research on Sanfilippo Type C.  It’s an honor to be part of this event and I’m really excited for the challenge.Most of my paintings take on average 1 – 3 months to make so figuring out how to do a piece in 3 hrs is a huge jump.  I’ve decided to create a piece from the HeLa cells series since these cells are used in the study of Sanfilippo.  The use of masking tape in these works adds a fun dynamic and leads to quick changes in the work which may make the performance more fun.I’m preparing for it almost like for a sport event: I’ve been practicing using acrylics (and discovered I’m an oil snob but now a recovering one) and experimenting with different media to test out drying times and effects.

8 x 8 in – 40 min Despite my reservations using acrylics, the resulting contrast is still very interesting.  Acrylic does make it a lot easier to manipulate the masking tape because the paint dries so quickly.