Materials research: Qi-ya, physics.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.3760

Really really interesting physics article on Qi-yi, which is the tendency of chinese scrolls to curve outwards across their length.

IF i am reading this correctly (and it is possible that I am not, becuase my knowledge of physics is extremely limited), it suggests that this tendency comes from the way these scrolls are stored rather than the way they are mounted.

it suggests a few ways to mitigate this:
1) "align the main fiber direction of backing paper... along the length."
2) add extra layers to the side borders
3) poke the backside of the scroll with a stiff brush-- already a practice in japanese mounting, poke not in region 1 (not entirely sure where that is-- i think it's the actual region which curves, so the outter edges???). japanese practice pokes the entire paper.
4) use a larger roller for storage than for display.

Further research which may be useful:

How to mount paintings on paper and on cloth
japanese scroll techniques
japanese scroll mounting techniques
chinese scroll mounting techniques
how to size paper
how to size cloth

Ideas List 1: Materials research

Ideas:

• Scrolls: sized with different levels of solution (start at 50/50%), paint with watercolor, ink, and absorbant ground + those things. Roll, and see if it cracks. at least one with oil
• Water down frisket 50/50 and see if it pulls up rag paper and rag paper with paint.
• small wood bits: one with cloth, one with DS absorbant ground, one with strait watercolor. one with transparent ground?
• In the scrollforms, try to arrange them like historical stcrolls 
• REACT to the cloth in the paintings (A la surrealism) instead of planning it out beforehand. make bases for these images and react to those in paintings too. 
• PRINT on cloth. Do one etchig, one watercolor monoprint maybe (to see about its visibility)?? and then try to combine the two? sizing the cloth first would likely be a good idea.
• • consider making collages out of cloth scraps and using those as substrates and/or reacting to those in paintings. theoretically cloth can be layered on itself with the same sort of technique as sizing, which would also size it. 
  
  
  surrealist games

Trace suggested stitching on the cloth paintings with some kind of thick string to make them more of an Object and justify their non-stretched-on-stretcherbars existence/justify them being displayed in the way they were painted. 

Interested in doing this. must find a way to incorporate such stitching while keeping the focus on the paint. don't want to abandon the paint, that's the fun stuff. 

possibly a border or can ALSO be used as a way to shore up the extremely fragile edges of the cloths, which were never made to be canvas and even sized have some structural difficulties.

Potential drawback in association/meaning; leah cooper asked about the cloth as a substrate for the paintings, said that any kind of cloth/stitching/etc might bring in associations of feminism/reclaiming crafts/etc. I told her it was a reference to tapestry and cloths of honor. Adding stitching onto the cloths might add additional layers to the other meaning, which while not nessicairly something i want to spurn is not what i'm going after in my paintings and are somewhat distracting to the meaning (especially the ones about being alternative gender; i already get misidentified as female).
Rebuttal: tapestries ARE made of cloth and stitching so this shores up that association; that association is not globally accurate since there are several cultures for whom the making of clothing is associated with masculine identities (and still other cultures that had non-binary concepts of gender but we won't go there outside of a seriously researched paper). and also that i can make whatever associations i want so fuck off.

Materials research: Sizing and acrylci mediums as sizing

MDF panels and size

Panels (and a note on latex paint on the back-side of a panel for shrinkage evening)

PVA size gamblin-- try this
Gamblin PVA Size diluted with distilled water is a contemporary size for fabric support. Conservation scientists recommend painters use neutral pH PVA size on linen and canvas instead of rabbit skin glue. PVA (Poly Vinyl Acetate) seals the fabric but does not re-absorb atmospheric moisture, preventing the size layer from swelling and shrinking. It has a neutral pH and does not yellow, plus it retains its flexibility, does not emit harmful volatiles, and protects fabric from the ground. PVA does not tighten the fabric like rabbit skin glue, so stretch fabric tightly.

primer vs size.

prior research has indicated (though i cannot find those sources and they're veyr muddled and hard to find) that acrylic gel mediums are made with gac, esp gac 100? and that they are reasonably useful as sizes for canvas. my own expirementation has yuelded fairly positive results re: that. scrap-bookers use it/PVA ph-neutral archival glues to make books with, and theoretically might yield archival results?

not sure if they preserve the lightfast nature of colors in said cloths; more information forthcoming.

discussion of various sizing and gessos, mostly rehash

in my experience gesso alone has led to cracking, prior to sizing both sides of a wood panel.

consider spraying surface with fixative when done painting to rpevent acrylic-gel-treated surfaces from sticking to each other and causing problems.