"Ease"

($40.00.....6" x 6"....mounted on a 1/8"depth clayboard panel)


"Easing into your day with prayer is like pouring ointment over your soul." Life can be bruising and leave us all feeling battered. This is a deeply personal quote for me because it sets the tone for my day. My prayer is that you will feel encouraged to pour ointment over your soul as well.

In this piece I have combined pouring medium techniques with gesso techniques. After completing the pouring medium and allowing the piece to dry thoroughly, I decided to block out some of the color "chaos" going on in part of the piece. I applied white gesso with an old credit card and texturized it with gestural marks created with the corner of the card. (You will need to cut off the rounded corner on the card first.)

After allowing this to dry overnight, I applied Liquitex Clear Gesso the following morning over the gesso. (Remember that this makes the surface gritty so the soft pastels will hold.) Using a combination of brushing on charcoal powder and some turquoise pastel, I achieved a nice gray. (The pastel was scraped onto a disposable plate with an x-acto knife and brushed on to keep it diffused.)

After getting the gesso as dark as I could, I sprayed it with Spray Acrylic Coating followed by another layer of clear gesso. I applied more charcoal powder.....sealed it again and applied more clear gesso...followed by white pastel. I then modulated the tone by rubbing over the surface with a kneaded eraser to achieve the "slate like" surface.

The important part of this was achieving an edge which blended into the pouring medium. So I did soften the gesso edge while it was still wet. All in all, I achieved the look I was after and learned how to make gesso look like slate. So there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.