It's called 'Indian Summer in Buffalo', but I prefer the term autumn. The lovely 70 degree days of the past week have me hurrying to finish outdoor work, including painting the final Damar varnish on my older-at least 6 months old-paintings. Now that the oil is thoroughly dry, this archival preservation step finishes them. As I prepared to bring the still tacky paintings indoors before the humidity got to them, I snapped this picture of my artistic buffet on the patio. I took advantage of every horizontal surface, including the grill and hose caddy, to let the varnish dry.
There is an enormous feeling of satisfaction to finish this final step; sometimes I am ready to do the project but cannot because it is wet, windy or buggy outdoors. Spending a morning with rags, face mask and chemical mixes isn't particularly healthy, but I get a chance to reconnect with the surfaces of previously painted compositions. Many artists consider final varnish an optional step, but I believe in professional materials & archival preservation.
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