Tales of the Sta-Wet Palette

This is a little story about my Masterson Sta-Wet Palette. I use it when I paint with acrylics. I have the Super Pro palette, which provides a large surface for mixing paints, The palette consists of a large plastic tray that holds a re-usable acrylic film over a large sponge. The damp surface keeps the acrylic paints moist. So far I have been fairly happy with the palette, but after recent events I am here to say I love it!

The last time I painted in acrylics was the last week in February. When I finished that painting, I fully intended to do another painting a few days later so I closed up the palette and set it aside for what I expected to be a day or two. I left a large glob of titanium white plus a few other colors in the palette for the next painting. I have been in the habit of putting the palette in the refrigerator because the palette can become smelly if left at room temperature for a few days, and if left too long mold can develop. I have found that refrigeration keeps the palette from getting smelly and discourages mold.

Good thing I put it in the refrigerator. A few days later I woke up with a sore throat and runny nose -- in other words, a common cold. Which became bronchitis.Which hung around for two weeks. And then, after starting to feel good enough to go back to my usual routine I got the double whammy -- another "cold"!

I'm finally feeling good again, In the mean time I have been dreading opening up the palette to see what kind of mess was inside. I finally got up the nerve tonight. To my surprise there was no mold, no awful smells, and all the paint was still usable! I scooped the titanium white and a couple of the other untouched colors into small containers and set them aside. Then I rinsed out the palette paper and sponge. Now I'm ready to go back to work!

Palettes

I wish I could have all the money back that I have spent on art supplies of one type or another that just haven't worked out. Case in point: palettes. When I started using watercolors for pastel underpaintings, I bought the Richeson Lock Box, which seemed like a good idea at the time. I bought it with the slant insert. Then I bought the paper inserts, which I planned to use for acrylics. The problem is so much of the palette space is taken up by the locking mechanism in the center, which leaves a lot less space for actually mixing paint. I probably will continue to use the Lock Box for watercolors, but not for acrylic paintings. Mostly, thought, I mix my Senellier watercolors in the built-in palette of the metal case the paints came in.

After trying the Lock Box, I started reading good things about the Masterson Sta-Wet palette, so I decided to give it a try. I ended up buying the Super Pro Sta-Wet palette. The palette surface is 12 x 16 inches. For acrylic paints you use the supplied sponge covered by a disposable palette sheet. The wet sponge keeps the surface moist, to help keep the paints moist while painting. As a bonus, the lid of the Super Pro palette has indentations around the perimeter for watercolors, with a large surface for mixing.

Here is what my palette looked like today after cleaning off unused acrylic paint, rinsing and scrubbing:

I have used that particular palette sheet for three or four paintings. The pigments of the paints end up staining the sheet, but it still can be re-used. Or you can replace it with a new sheet.

If I frame the palette sheet and put it on eBay as an abstract work of art, how much do you think I could get for it?