"Magnolia"

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


"The magnolia flower is a model of confidence by the way it sits on the branch." Some flowers may seem a bit timid by the way they present themselves. This is not the case with the magnolia flower which is large, has beautiful form, and sits with confidence on a bed of large magnolia leaves. Of course, there is always something to learn and apply to ourselves as we think about the way we come across to others.

This piece is all about design,  shapes, and texture. I created some erratic lines on a blank paper first. The printed image was then placed over the word magnolia and shows through the flower because it was printed on very transparent paper.

Gesso came next...applied with an old credit card. I then applied some peach and green soft pastels. Gesso was applied again and scribbled into with the corner of the credit card to create texture. It was dried thoroughly

The shapes really began to take form after applying Speedball Printing Ink with a brayer. You can see how the texture marks in the gesso remain white. It is very important at this stage of printing more color with the brayer to make sure your shapes extend edge to edge but also leaving some areas to create smaller shapes. After being satisfied with the shapes, I brushed on some more peach pastel and sprayed the surface with Spray Acrylic Coating.

After preparing the surface to receive lettering, I finished the piece by writing with peach colored and eggplant colored gouache. This type of piece can become chaotic if you use too many colors and include too much photography or collage bits. (Also notice that all of the corners are different and I made sure of that while printing color with the brayer.) The key is to keep the main thing the main thing. Just a few more things to think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.