Trafalgar Junior School Mural

For more information on this project, see my  Jenny Meehan Wordpress Blog:   http://jennymeehan.wordpress.com/

Painted with Beeckosil and Beeck Full Colour silicate mineral paint with figures and linear elements painted with Keim Soldalit.  Mural coated with Keim Anti-Graffiti coating. 

I carried out my part in this project on a voluntary basis in order to gain this type of experience.  Project planning, colour areas and design - Jenny Meehan, assisted by children from Trafalgar Junior School. 

Cartooning workshops, arrangement of cartoons and painting of cartoons - John T Freeman. Thanks to the children of Trafalgar Junior School, all of whom  can be very proud of the work they carried out during the workshops, an extra "Well Done" to those who had their work transferred to the mural.

www.johntfreeman.co.uk

During several months over 2010 I experimented with using casein paint for small scale painting experiments. I discovered an old book "Casein Painting - Methods and Demonstrations" by Henry Gasser which helped me immensely in terms of educating me with regard to the many possibilities open to me if I would just take the time and trouble to educate myself about the exact nature of the materials I was using in my paintings.  The publishers note opens with: 

"Apparently we owe the recent almost phenomenal renaissance of interest in casein painting largely to the perspicacity and diligence of the manufacturers of artist's colours.  At least it is they who have gradually brought their casein paints to such perfection that more and more artists, hearing the good word from brother practitioners, have been turning to them, usually with such effectiveness - even from their initial efforts - that they have immediately voted this amazingly versatile tool a place of honour alongside such of their tried and true standbys as oil paints and watercolours."

Arthur L. Guptill  1950 

Yes, 1950 was a long time ago, but the freshness and enthusiasm of the book with its new discovery touched a chord with me.  I had never even heard of casein paint.  What was it like to use? I 'd struggled for some time with regard to the plastic nature of acrylic paints.  You get different feelings from different types of paint, and the type of paint you use affects the painting process in various ways, not just with respect to the methods and technical considerations but influencing the painter in other ways. As I began to paint not only with oil and acrylic but egg tempera, casein and then silica sol and waterglass bound  mineral paint, my interest in using natural materials developed, and has continued to grow. In particular, the third generation silica sol and waterglass bound mineral paint, which is now far more technically advanced than the original formulations, has many interesting possibilities, and I have been experimenting with this since the end of last year.  

Some general information on my easel paintings with the  silica-sol mineral paint...

Jenny Meehan - Gouache Painting using Silica-Sol Mineral Paint

The binding agent most commonly used in a gouache or bodycolour painting is gum arabic but having spent several months on an exterior mural using  potash waterglass bound silicate mineral paint I realised that, with the new generation of more technically advanced silica-sol mineral paint, I had found a paint which would give me a matt and highly reflective paint surface  which I much preferred to acrylic, along with the added benefits of being natural, eco-friendly, and exciting to use. 

That this third generation mineral paint may be used on organic as well as inorganic substrates has meant that I can also ensure my painting practice is ecologically friendly in the respect that I do not  need to waste excess  paint from larger exterior painting projects.  Instead, I adjust the colours of the paint using additional pigments, therefore extending the range of colours, which nevertheless retains a sense of a distinctive palette... One composed only of pigments able to withstand the alkaline quality of the paint; earth colours, iron oxides, metal oxides and ultramarine pigments. On a rigid properly prepared substrate the paint does not crack as long as it is not applied too thickly.  It's just like casein, but easier to use as the colour shift is not as dramatic as I found when using casein for similar work.