"Mi Camino" (final)

($80.00.......6" x 8".....Mixed Media.....Mounted on a 2" Depth Clayboard)

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119: 105...NIV) This is a very familiar verse that has been put to song and hidden in a lot of hearts. It's still a favorite and hope you like seeing it in a different way.

The motif of this background was chosen because it implies growth and gives a hint of the pastoral scenes that come to mind with many of the Psalms. And even though I had no idea which verse I was going to do, it became apparent that the black papers with white letters and a hint of the background showing through did visually describe the path being lit.

The layout is fairly traditional, but there are many who still gravitate to this straight forward treatment of the quote. My personal inclination is to be a lot wilder and less readable, but I conceded that point in this piece.

Those of you who are playing around with mono printed rice papers might want to try laying your chosen color(s) out on a table or even the floor and then begin to pair them with some of your black papers or even a darker value of another color. You really will have better success if you have light, medium, and dark values represented.

Your layout can resemble papers laying on top of each other and then cropped or you can work in a more complex way with a horizontal band layout. Parts of old book covers also make a nice inclusion. And I hope you have not forgotten that delivering paint to your surface with a brayer and using one color on top of another is another way to begin your piece. You can then selectively choose some mono printed papers to include in key areas.

The technique of brayering first before adding papers will give you some little windows and areas to showcase a particular image or texture. Perhaps I will do that for tomorrow's posting. Never the less, there are many different ways to design with your papers. And the good news is that everything you're using is archival and well protected with mediums and sprays that contain acrylic emulsions of some sort.

You could also brayer with watercolors if you want more transparency to work with. It's all very exciting so I hope you will be hard at work creating your own pieces. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.