Over the last months I have been working on my largest canvas ever. It sure has been an extraordinary process, scaling up to 280 x 180 cm.

“Mot Flokatveitnuten” Acrylic on canvas. 280×180 cm.

Although this format is to be regarded as rather insignificant compared to many great works of art up through the ages, it proved a bit of a stretch (pun not intended) for my modus operandi. How could I ever reach the centre section, considered the canvas always has to be flat on the floor during some of my operations?

I soon managed to adopt some clever tricks in order to reach the “hard to get to” areas. I attached an extension to some of my tools and brushes.

Then came the issues with the weather. What if it would start to rain whilst the canvas was on the ground outside my studio? In order to keep within a minimum of the recommended health and safety practices I do make en effort to conduct all applications of hazardous art materials such as turpentine and most varnishes outdoors. However, some of these are applied in generous amounts floating on the surface. If a rain shower would appear, I would be rushed to bring the canvas inside, and considered my studio door does not accommodate a 280×180 cm format unless it’s raised up standing, you may imagine the disastrous impact.

However, the weather gods were on my side for a change, and the forecasts proved to be correct. I will probably arrange for some sort of roofing over my out door work area next time, but all in all I would have to say this was a process that proved less problematic than anticipated. Next time I might even try to stretch it a little further.