A Whiter Shade Of Pale

Having finished my painting of the Vestal virgins, it is time to dress it ( the painting ) up properly.  That being a painting done on Xuan paper, I am going to mount my painting the traditional way, with starch for wet mounting.

I also want to try something that I've been contemplating for a long, long time; and that is to mount border strips onto the painting, creating a built-in mat look, like the pros do.  Since I don't have any brocade material for my borders, I shall settle for the same gold flaked Xuan paper that I painted on, but a white one to contrast with the yellow that the painting sits on.  My theory is that I need to do the border mounting before the mounted painting is dried.  This is to avoid differential drying of the Xuan papers if the adhesion process is done after the initial mounting is dried.  

Before I permanently seal the fate of my Vestals by fixing them onto my backing Xuan paper, I obviously need to correct the apparent 3rd leg of No.2 vestal and the exceptionally long forearm of No.8 vestal. 

The painting is wet mounted with starch on a regular backing of white Xuan paper.  The placement of the painting and the size of the backing are critical to allow room for the borders that are yet to be attached.

The next step is to fix the border strips that I pre-cut to proper width and length.  The photo below shows the border strip on the top of the frame.

The bottom border strip is then attached.  I use the width of the painting as a guide for my top and bottom border strips, making it that much easier to line up and place the borders properly.  I really don't want to take any chances with these wet, floppy strips of  wet tissues, in essence.  

This is the view of all four borders attached to the mounting when all the pieces are still wet.

The mounting is left to dry and will be harvested after drying.

Now I have a painting that is inspired by the song "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", by the band Procol Harum.

And so it was that later

As the miller told his tale

That her face, at first just ghostly

Turned a whiter shade of pale

She said, there is no reason'

And the truth is plain to see

But I wandered through my playing cards

And would not let her be

One of the sixteen vestal virgins

Who were leaving for the coast

And although my eyes were open

They might have just as well've been closed

And no, I still do not make sense of the above lyrics, and there are various versions of explanations, some of them more colorful than others.

I've not read the Canterbury Tales, of which The Miller's Tale is one. I never dabbled in English Literature in my studies.  Suffice to know that story the miller told was about marital betrayal and debauchery, albeit a little raunchy.  There's a theory that the reason "she turned a whiter shade of pale" was perhaps the "tale" mirrored her predicament.  "Skipping fandango" and "turning cartwheel" at the beginning of the song might be describing our female protagonist having fun dancing and being crazy while out partying, not necessarily with her spouse.  Thus she turned "a whiter shade of pale" upon seeing the similarities between her and the "tale".  Of course there is also a belief that turning a whiter shade of pale describes the effect of too much alcohol, or as in the 60's, alcohol and other illicit substances mixed together; "the room was humming harder, as the ceiling flew away", so goes the song.

A plausible explanation for the Vestal Virgins to leave for the coast is that they failed to uphold their duties as guardians of the sacred fire at the hearth of the goddess Vesta.  Somehow the fire went out and they are fleeing the punishment for their dereliction of duty.

Thus I am unabashedly assuming the role of the "miller" here, and weave my own story as an one-up to the original miller's tale.  My "tale" says one of the Vestal Virgins actually breaks the vow of chastity and her belly is betraying her and therefore the whole cabal is being condemned.  I am borrowing this storyline to portray the gamut of human emotions when dealing with the consequences of indiscretion.  From denial, to bargaining, acceptance and despair.  One of the Vestals is seen examining a giant sieve, to see if the Vestal's magical power of carrying water with a sieve is still intact.  A light just went off in my head, could our lady in the lyric also be having a pregnancy outside of wedlock?  Thus turning a whiter shade of pale?

Hence my painting. 

I imbued it with my own twist.  I sincerely hope Keith Reid does not mind.