"Cathedrals" (final)

($250.00.....11" x 14".....gesso work on 140 lb. HP....mounted on a 2" depth cradled board)

"Cathedrals in all their grandeur cannot compare to the cathedral of the heart." You can see that the lettering was done in a gothic style called "textura". I deliberately left them in a lighter value. Most of the time, especially on this type of surface, white lettering has to be retouched to deepen the value.

Another intentional decision was to slightly angle the lettering to mimic the line work throughout the piece. It also gives movement and makes it less contrived.

There are several "take aways" from this piece that I would like to share. First of all, when creating erratic lines and shapes with gesso as well as white gouache....the value of these areas can be muted by brushing on a bit of charcoal powder after they're dry.  You can see it quite clearly in the cathedrals where there is a grayish/ whitish texture. It adds an ethereal look and is a very useful technique. If you consistently create mixed media work, black charcoal powder and a soft brush (Hake brush or blush brush) are an absolute necessity.

Line work is your friend when it comes to integration. By creating white lines in the dark areas and black lines in the white areas, I created conversations between the shapes which results in integration. 

Breaking up solid shapes of color with rubbing alcohol and a brayer or laying down color with gouache and brayer and then spraying lightly with water can create very interesting texture. I did this on the left side where you see texture in the dark area.

Using a pointed pen and a press/release technique can help create lines that are thicker and thinner in places which makes them much more interesting. It is also good to have line work created with a variety of different mediums....such as gesso applied with a credit card....pencil lines....pointed pen and ink lines....scratching into damp paint with the corner of a credit card or palette knife...etc

As I mentioned in draft (1), I attempted to write down most of the questions that needed answers as I moved through the steps of creating. There were approximately (50) in all which simply illustrates that it takes many steps to create a piece of artwork. Asking the right questions will give you the right answers. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Heroic Faith"

(sold)

"A life of heroic sacrifice will foster and leave a legacy for heroic faith." The quote today is by the senior pastor at Hill Country Bible Church NW...Tim Hawks. This piece is a commission to be given to a young man who epitomizes the quote. God's blessings on him and his family as he struggles for his physical life.

I generally do return to mixed media when the need arises to communicate a truth verbally and visually. So today, I would like to recap a few points about my own mixed media process. First of all, I love using old book pages in the background and then covering most of the text up, but leaving those bits behind that say something that goes with the theme of the piece. In this case, you can clearly read the Lord's Prayer in the bottom part of the old cathedral section. And therein lies the beauty of printing images on silk tissue paper and creating overlays in the work. The contrast between transparency and opacity is very compelling and creates a lot of depth in this type of work. 

There is also some inclusions of plain rice paper overlaying some of the text, as well as some mono printed rice papers (blue areas) that add color. It also creates an ethereal look to have a line engraved image overlaying the colored and revealed text areas.

Also included are areas of "deconstruction" where bits of colored rice papers and text pages were adhered to the surface and then removed to reveal the bits that stayed behind. One very effective example of this is in the upper right hand corner where text appears backwards over the blue to create an "echo" of the other background text and also break up the surface tension.

The last detail was the inclusion of a gold, embossed cross. The inclusion of a cross was the request of the client and so I included two, but the gold one will always catch the eye since it is gold and shiny against the blue background. And there you have it...a few more things to think about.

"La Palabra De Dios"

($400.00....18" x 24"....300lb HP  mounted on a 2.00" depth clayboard)

"The Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

(Hebrews 4: 12...NIV)

This is a larger work created for an exhibit for Open Doors Gallery at Hill Country Bible Church.  There is a conversation going on between the colors, textures, transparent prints on silk tissue paper, and plain rice paper over colors and text. I deliberately kept particular areas white or light enough to add some lettering. 

The cool thing about this technique is that if you don't have enough lighter areas at the end of the process, you can simply add some more plain rice paper. Metal leaf or metallic paint can also be added at the end to bring some illumination to the entire piece. In this case, I used one of my favorites...Gold Orange (Holbein Acryl Gouache) which has more of an orange look to it than most golds and creates a nice contrast with the purples. 

It's a very absorbing process and great fun to put together. Preparing all of the pieces takes as much time as adhering them to the board. And it also helps to have an extra table or two to lay everything out so you can see everything at once. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.