Resin to the challenge

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“I like pushing the boundaries a bit, and I have become passionate about experimenting to create in more ways with resin art”

BY STACIE GAETZ | PHOTOS BY KRISTY REIMER Resin-ating with a unique medium

Airdrie artist Michele Donohue’s affection for the unusual medium with which she creates wasn’t love at first sight.

Donohue has been an artist for 25 years and worked with acrylics before her new medium of choice really started to resin-ate with her.

She says like any good love story, her attraction to resin as a medium grew gradually.

“When I first saw resin used as a topcoat only, I wasn’t a fan actually,” she says.

“I started creating with resin as a medium, after falling in love with fluid art, and then became obsessed with resin art about four years ago.”

She says working with resin has the unique ability to be frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.

“It is a very challenging medium to work with. It can have a steep learning curve, and there weren’t a lot of YouTube videos available when I first started, so I made a lot of expensive mistakes in the beginning,” Donohue says.

“Unlike when creating with a paintbrush or pallet knife, resin doesn’t always stay where you want it to, so you need to learn to plan for that. You have to learn to accept a certain lack of control, and that in itself is a challenge.”

Donohue adds that the medium requires a lot of planning ahead and working quickly because once the epoxy resin and hardener are mixed, you don’t have a lot of time to work.

“What I love most is the depth that can be created by using many resin layers.

“I like pushing the boundaries a bit, and I have become passionate about experimenting to create in more ways with resin art.”

She also enjoys incorporating textures such as crushed glass, gemstones and crystals into her work.

The process of creating her masterpieces, Donohue says, involves a number of intricate steps and a multitude of tools, and can include as many as eight layers of resin to get the desired results.

Donohue adds that it all pays off in the end when she sees the final result.

“I have heard other artists (who create in oil and acrylics) say they are amazed at how real I can get with resin art.

“That is from tons of failures and tons of practice, and I’d like to say it was a proud moment for me to hear that, because that is such a huge challenge to do in resin art.”

She adds that her favourite piece is the very first “extra-large resin piece” she created, which she sold at the Calgary Home Show.

The eight-foot-wide by four-foot-high piece called Zephyr was so large, she had to get her husband to mix some of the resin while she was creating it so she would have time to manipulate it while it was still pliable.

“I was so excited when that piece was completed and I was so happy with it,” she says.

The artist adds that her most popular sellers are her beach wave seascapes, and the geode/gemstone-inspired pieces.

“The beach scenery and relaxing water visual is something that speaks to a lot of people,” says Donohue.

“I think it is such a pleasurable, calm feeling and vibe to look at waves coming in along a shoreline. For many I have spoken to, it brings positive and peaceful memories and thoughts of places they want to go.”

Donohue sells her art in a number of places including on her website at donohueart.com, at Muk Luk Magpies Stained Glass Emporium in Airdrie and at an interior design and flooring store in Calgary.

Her work is also featured in a gift shop in the Yukon and at a spa in Medicine Hat. life