That meant I needed to mount the Xuan so it could be presented.
I had always wanted to try something really far rout with this piece of work.
Obviously painting with coffee and cream and tea was unconventional, especially as far as Chinese brush is concerned. When I needed to mount this painting for presentation, I didn't want to do it the traditional fashion either. This was in part motivated by the fact that the coffee and tea had no fixative in them and the color tends to move if not careful.
I had wanted to exploit the translucent quality of the Xuan. I also deplore the glass covered look, the omnipresent glare from the glass. I am also too cheap in invest in non-glare museum quality glass. That was my motivation for inventing the Xuan-Boo ( Xuan on canvas ) to begin with.
The only plausible way to showcase the semi-transparent Xuan was to mount my painting on a piece of glass; tampered glass to be specific. I toyed with the notion that my painting could be viewed almost like a stained glass window or a double sided silk embroidery. I had visions of my work mounted on the surface of glass. The entire piece would be a float and I would epoxy a platform behind the glass so it could be displayed several inches off the wall surface, allowing ambient and reflected light to dance on my painting.
That won't work; too heavy.
Then I was going to use a heavy gauge plastic, in lieu of tampered glass. It turned out that anything over three-sixteenth thickness is cast plastic, and costs an arm and a leg. Besides, even at one-quarter inch thickness, the piece flexes due to the large dimensions, and it was heavy.
I eventually abandoned the frameless float idea and settled for a frame.
My work was still to be mounted on the surface of the plastic. I mounted another piece of Xuan on the backside of the plastic for proper white balance. The thickness of the plastic sheet gave the backing an interesting look.
In order to not distract the painting with my traditional red seal, it was suggested that I sign with pencil.
But I really wanted to use my seal. I am better represented by my chop than a pencil signature!
Who says the chop has to be red?
I used my ink box as the seal mud and stamped my chop in black ( buried in the right bank) The important thing is, that chop looked great. For people in the know they would recognize the presence of my seal. For the less enlightened, it was not obtrusive and it didn't matter. It was proper and soothing. It belonged. I thought.
(close-up of the black chop)
With this set-up, shadow would form behind the painting, behind the frame, and yet one could see it through the plastic.
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It helped to move the painting to the front. Now the audience can fully explore the miasma of the atmosphere homogenizing with the land, only to be interrupted by the intrepid riders.
The entire piece was finished with several layers of spray urethane to protect the delicate Xuan from soiling. At least that was what I hoped.
I am naming this process of mine Suliao Xuan Ban, Xuan on plastic board.
