CHAPAPOTE

Chapapote:

"A form of asphalt found in Mexico the Antilles and Venezuela, which can be more or less thick. This is the definition according to the Twentieth Edition of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language Dictionary. But since November 13th, 2002 it is a damned word that has turned popular all through Spain and this can only be blamed to the catastrophe of the tanker Prestige. The ship had mechanical problems in front of the Galician coast. The Spanish government, instead of taking it to port to empty its dangerous load, 50,000 tons of crude oil, sent it out to sea. There it broke in half and since then, the Chapapote – popular term use until then by Galician fishermen when they referred to the crude oil…”*

But why am I using chapapote (tar) in my paintings? And how and when did it start? It must have been around 1997 that I began experimenting with chapapote (and for ease of presentation I will call it chap) and it sprang from its use as a sealer on tile floors in our house (and my studio base) in San Miguel de Allende, GTO, México. On floors, contractors apply chap to the unglazed tiles; they also use it on the pine beams. It gives the finish an antique look. The problem with floors, I determined, is that after repeated washes, especially with strong detergent by the housekeeper, the finish is removed. I found that, since chap is a petrol-chemical I could add Sal-Zar (my Mixed Media Medium™) to the chap and it enabled it to withstand repeated washes. To create the chap mix for floors you add white gas, this can be heated with the chap pieces themselves and some bees wax and for color, should you wish, some vermillion oil paint. Today, some contractors, only use the white gas, no heating, no wax, and after the chap has dried in the tiles, say three days, they apply a polyurethane on top. I’m not sure of the poly application: said to last five years; but what happens then? Strip off the poly? Reapply the chap? Not clear! I prefer to mix the varnish base of Sal-Zar™ with the chap.

This is how I came on how chap as I mixed it can be a coating and used in my paintings, on paper and primed Masonite. As far, as the paper is concerned, I have exclusively used Stonehenge® and without any primer. But, not always, for in some instances I have used an oil gesso on the paper. When the gesso is used then the saturation level in the paper is severely reduced and you don’t get the same visual appearance as when you apply the chap directly to the paper. I have used Sal-Zar directly on the Stonehenge paper, and worked the chap into the paper with Sal-Zar applied first, or later on top of the chap. But, all of this is too complicated: one must see my instruction on how to use chap to get a real sense of how to apply it and the results. One thing in conclusion I wish to mention and this is that the use of oil pastels with chap is very exciting and has done me a great service in creating my images. In addition, I have found that chap with Sal-Zar and spray enamels works. After completion, if desired, the entire work can be coated with Sal-Zar and this will make the work lightfast and non-photo chemically reactive.

Is this method permanent? That’s a good question and I can’t answer it! In some paintings I have used chap on canvas. I have found that Stonehenge paper (paper that can take severe abuse) and a hardboard, like Ampersand™ appears to work and is as permanent as I want it to be. The subject will have to be explored by conservators.

I have sometimes reminded myself that I may have fallen into a tar pit. For, I find that it has so many unique qualities and can be applied on top of acrylics, that I fear I am getting to be a tar baby and can’t free myself of its dependency in my art. Well, that’s another story!

But one thing remains clear! Chapapote, from the earth of Mexico, and its brown tone appearance in my paintings, speaks of Mexico: the land and the people. It also calls attention to our worldwide chemical dependency, especially on oil, and its pollution: now that ‘chapapote’ has become a household word due to the sinking of the tanker Prestige (some irony in that name, to be sure) off the Galician coast in 2002.

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