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Even with my AC window unit cranked the studio rarely gets below 85 degrees during the day, which is not too bad, but what really bothers is what this heat does to paint. Hot atmospheric conditions wreck havoc on what gets mixed on the palette, within a couple of hours my colors are usually a gummy mess. This gets scrapped off and mixing begins again. If I am applying a glaze it will start setting up within minutes, gotta work fast. The subtleties of oil painting can never be learned from a book, experience is the only way. There are times when the paint seems to have a mind of its own and I am just a sorcerer attempting to coax magic from tinted dirt.
Above: The Magician (20x18 Fr) oil panel 2008, (one of the rare paintings of mine that has an interior setting) available at TEW Galleries Atlanta
