"Corazon" (final)

($60.00......6" x 6".....Mixed Media on 2" Depth Cradled Board)

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." (Proverbs 4: 23...NIV) One of the key words in this piece is "wellspring". A wellspring is a source or supply of anything, especially when considered inexhaustible. So whatever is flowing in our hearts (the seat of our thinking and emotions) is very important and charts the course of our lives.

So as far as the look and mood of the piece, I feel satisfied that I accomplished what I set out to do. My desire was to have an extreme contrast between textures which also results in a contrast of new vs. old. By using Fluid Acrylics (3 layers over black gesso), I was able to achieve a high gloss and very smooth color application to the background. It comes across as very contemporary and gives me the vehicle for going into my colorist voice.

The deconstruction of the fiber by painting, sanding, painting, sanding, etc. until it is aged to perfection (to the point of making holes in the fiber) goes to the heart of my artistic voice. That's why antique stores hold such a hugh appeal and this is an aging technique that is worth its weight in gold. You can see the red background peeking through the holes and stray threads veering off from the edges.

To set up a sanding station, I laid the fiber on a large section of MDF board. The fiber is much easier to sand after some paint has been applied to make it stiff. You then must hold the fiber with your left hand by spreading out your hand and sanding in the "taunt" area and this is especially true when going close to the edge. It also helps to have a variable speed palm sander and use medium to course grit sand paper. It takes a lot of grit to deconstruct fibers.

After all of the sanding was done, I turned the piece over and painted with black fluid acrylic and that's why you see the holes and threadbare areas a dark black. It also seeped to the edges in some places.

All in all, it is a very creative alliance with high gloss and dull, threadbare, and aged fiber. This piece is on a cradled board, but the large works are on canvas which gives a range of other options such as stitching the fiber on with several strands of embroidery thread followed by gesso and paint. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Gracias" (final)

($180.00......6" x 12".....color block......mounted on a 2" depth cradled board)

"Gracias is the fertile soil of gratitude." Along with the title, many changes have taken place and here is the final. This piece will be in an exhibition sponsored by Capital City Scribes this coming October.

This piece shows the drama created by implementing a hugh contrast of size. Contrasts are so important and the drama created will vary depending on the amount of contrast. If there is a slight contrast of size, that will certainly give the piece some energy, but a large contrast will deliver the drama in spades.

My main contrast in this piece was size, but the same principle holds true for a hugh contrast of line and its direction, color, value, and texture. There is also a hugh contrast of light and dark (1 and 10 on the gray scale and values in between). Another contrast of color that I used was the contrast of extension. This contrast has to do with the percentage of space a color occupies. In this piece, the dark green juxtaposed with the desert bronze color is almost equal with the darker values, but taking a slight edge. If one of these colors had some real dominance, there would have been less drama and more unity.

You can also see that the principle of repetition (echoes) is one of the power drivers of color block pieces. The same holds true in mosaics. Repetition creates rhythm and pattern in a piece.

One other thing to note is the "cowhide" type of spots on a few of the pieces which helps to break up some of the straight lines. The gestural writing in the paint does the same thing.

It's really all about design which can take a piece in any number of directions. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Gracias" (draft 2)

(draft 2)

Last evening I decided on a finished size of 6" x 12" in a vertical format. A few blocks have been completed and laid on the support. Nothing will be adhered until everything has been decided.

What I decided this morning was to have a larger contrast of size, so I will be cropping some of the pieces you see, making new ones, and including a variety of small sizes mixed in with the larger ones.

Contrast of size adds a lot of drama to a composition and brings the viewer in to a particular area, especially if the contrast is quite significant. So my plan is to have some smaller blocks that are less than an inch in size to create a focal point and a lot more repetition of all of the colors. This does take more time, but is well worth the effort.

It is always a good idea to notice the size of shapes in other artists' artwork. By analyzing and comparing how you respond to contrast of size, you will fully comprehend the power of this important contrast. When everything is too much the same size, the piece may be unified, but lack energy. In fact, contrast is the number one most important design principle....especially in a day and age when we are all bombarded by visuals.

So it might be a good idea to analyze as much artwork as possible to take note of all of the contrasts you see. Be looking for contrast of line (including edges and direction), color, texture, shapes (size), and values.

Analyzing a particular piece of artwork is more valuable than simply reading about design and trying to include the principles in your work. If you can see it in a finished piece of art, it will make a lot more sense and be more easily understood. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Psalm 100" (draft 2)

(draft 2)

Today's second draft of Psalm 100 reveals the addition of mono printed rice papers. There are more papers to come, but I hope you can see how dramatically it altered the piece from yesterday.

There has been a flurry of activity at Buck Hill Studio today...four hours to be exact. I began by mono printed a few papers in all of the colors represented in the piece. Sounds like that could be knocked out in about 30 min., but "oh contrare"! With a lot of humidity in the air and needing to dry, spray, and dry again took about (2) hours.

The next step was to cut segments of the papers to go in areas that will line up with the brayered lines of color.  This was accomplished by cutting the rice papers right on the support and using a grid ruler when necessary to make sure the pieces lined up.  I am still not satisfied, but ran out of time so I will be looking at this piece either in the studio or on my iphone during the day so I can see where I might want some more texture. In fact, looking at a photo of your piece in progress is always a good idea. It removes you from the studio and the chaos of creating to give you a whole new perspective.

If I realize I need to tone down an area, all I need to do is adhere some plain rice paper over the aggressive area to create a very translucent effect. Today, what you see is a very stark contrast between transparency and texture with saturated color. This is an extreme contrast and my preference is to have a full range of values and different degrees of transparency and translucency represented which is not present yet.

If you try this yourself, you might have some difficulty accepting the look of the mono printed papers being adhered to those light bands of color. It's almost like cold water in your face, but it is very important to keep moving along with the knowledge that gesso or plain rice papers, or soft pastels can mute any area quite nicely. It's just not good to do that until you have all of your mono printed papers adhered.

This is the one obstacle that many artists have with mixed media. The desire is to see the finished outcome before the piece is finished. That's why I am happy to show you the step-by-step process so you can see how it all develops. Today things are a bit "jarring", but they will get much better in the next two postings. 

This piece will probably take until Sunday or Monday to be completely finished. One of the reasons being that I also plan to have one or three glass inclusions. It's all quite fascinating. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Psalm 100" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

Today's posting is the beginning of Psalm 100. That will remain the title for now, but as in Psalm 103:1, the title changed in the final. The first draft is always exciting because it is a new beginning and even I do not know what the final will look like. I have no preconceived idea so that I can remain open to what I see happening on the paper.

Even though I do not have a preconceived idea, I am thinking about design. Staying true to my artistic voice which is to contrast opacity, translucency, and transparency in my mixed media works, I have begun with transparency. The colors I chose were based on a mexican pot painted with these same colors. And I chose Speedball Printing Ink as my paint and brayers as the way to deliver the paint to the paper which is a full sheet of 300 lb. HP.  (The final will be 18" x 24")

The dark blue was blue mixed with a bit of black. The turquoise was right out of the jar. The yellow green was green plus yellow. The orange was orange plus a bit of the dark blue. I mixed all of these colors on a glass surface with a palette knife and added a lot of water to each pile. To make sure it was well mixed, I sloshed the paint around with my hand (wearing thin latex gloves.)

By diluting the color a great deal, I am insuring the transparency. Using 1.50", 2", and 4" brayers, I began to apply the paint to dry paper. Because of the size of the paper, I did need to make at least 2 applications of color in each stripe. It is easy to do with brayers since you can see exactly how to line it up with the previous application. My desire was to include static and dynamic lines while preserving some white areas. Those white areas will add a lot of sparkle to the piece.

My next step today will be to create some mono printed papers using the same colors you see today. I will also be adding some black mono printed papers. Using black plus white and color and in different saturations will cover almost if not all of the values on the gray scale.

Color may be the most emotional of the design elements, but contrast is the most critical design principal. So today I have introduced a contrast of line (static and dynamic), a contrast of hue (or color), and a small contrast of saturation. Tomorrow, there will be even more contrasts in these same areas with an additional contrast of texture.

Also notice that all of the bands of color go edge to edge which grounds them to the design space and creates many great divisions of space. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Blessed" (Final)

($150.00......10" x 8"....Mixed Media on 140 lb. HP......Mounted on a 2" Depth Clayboard)

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the set of mockers." (Psalm 1:1) This is only one of three verses from Psalm 1, but it is finally finished. It is a timeless message and one of my favorites from The Psalms.

My hope today is that you can see how straight lines of tiny script bring stability and calm to an otherwise overly energetic piece. From the beginning, it was all about values and contrast.

 Black serves as the "grounding neutral" in the piece with "grayed" complementary colors paired together.  Just to recap from yesterday that one of the reasons this combination works well together is because there is very little detail in the colored areas and all of the more textured areas appear in the black mono printed papers.

This gives another option for the myriad uses of mono printed papers. This is definitely not my one and only of this combination of elements. So think along with me as I share a thought or two about where this could go. You will undoubtedly come up with ideas of your own. My next foray into this approach is to go much larger and use 1.50"...2.00"...and 4.00" brayers to deliver the color to the paper.

This might be a good time to do a few thumbnails on how the stripes could be arranged. They could be all horizontal, all vertical, a combination of both, or a few diagonals thrown into the mix. It will also be exciting to play around with space intervals. In other words, they don't all need to be evenly spaced. In fact, they will almost make it look contrived. Syncopated spacing is always a better option to begin with. Many of you who have done mono printing at Buck Hill Studio will have many black papers to play around with. I hope you will give it a try.

Also, check out the erratic line work that other abstract artists use in their work. Carole Pickle is a great one to google. Also look at the work of Katherine Chiang Liu. And don't forget Sue Costa and her magic with her favorite charcoal pencil. All of these artists have different approaches to line work. One more favorite is Juanda Powell's piece in the "Fully Alive" exhibit at Open Doors Gallery at Hill Country Bible Church of Austin. The line work is phenomenal. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Blessed" (draft 2)

(draft 2....8" x 10")

This piece is all about Psalm 1. The complete text will appear in the final. There is, however, a great deal of text in this second draft which is setting the stage for the final lettering. Tomorrow you will see the power of very straight script written in black and how it calms everything in this piece down without jeopardizing the energy you see now.  I also cropped it to an 8" x 10" size.

There are several reasons why this piece is coming together in a beautiful way. And most of those reasons have to do with contrasts. The first and most obvious contrast is between the textured areas and the non textured areas. When delivering thin paint like this to a surface and with a brayer, there is transparency and hard edges, but very little detail.  When the mono printed black papers were added, complex and compelling texture entered the scene. And remember that black and white plus one or two other colors works every time it's tried.

The next contrast is the color. Not only the colors plus black and white, but the fact that the blue and orange are direct complements on the color wheel. There is also a contrast of saturation of color. By mixing the two complementary colors, some interesting "grayed" down colors (or less intense) appeared. That automatically decreased their saturation and also the addition of white and a lot of water diluted them further. This is a stark contrast to the black color....even though some of those pieces are less saturated as well with a mix of some very dark blacks.

Another strong contrast appears in the static vs. dynamic lines in the piece. Static is either totally horizontal or vertical and dynamic is curved or diagonal. This is easy to achieve with a brayer and it is also easy to achieve in the mono printed papers. There are diagonal and circular lines in several of those pieces. And this is why I suggested you have a combination of both types of printed papers on hand. That circular pattern in the bottom center is crucial to the success of this piece.

Today, I dealt with values and having subtle shifts in the values of my lettering. This layering of letters also adds some subtle detail and marries the colors and shapes together by crossing over them in the same way you might stitch two pieces of fabric together. The choice of color for the brush lettering also breaks up the strong diagonal and softens the blow of such a strong line. (Tomorrow's posting with straight black lines of script will further soften that diagonal.) But that diagonal provides the underlying energy of the piece so I am glad I put it there in the first place.

The other contrasts have to do with the different sizes of lettering and the tools used. There is pencil, brush, and a Mitchell #6 nib. All of that creates a nicely textured and subtle background for my last bit of lettering. If you don't do lettering, consider line work and doodling (much like a zentangle to create some interesting value shifts and detail. (If you don't know what a zentangle is....just google it. Quite fascinating.)   And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Here and There"

($40.00......6" x 6".....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"A little here and there gets the job done." A "give and take" in the rhythm of doing anything will get the job done.

Yesterday, I went totally abstract with no visible sign of a realistic image. Today, I tried to ride the fence and leave enough traces of my image to be recognizable. It is successful, but also more difficult to accomplish. A good word to describe this process is "jazz painting". That term has been used a lot in lettering and the whole process feels the same way to me. 

I made no effort to "gray down" the sky color except for a bit of white added. It is pthalo blue and very intense. That one color choice gives the piece a lot of energy. The red / orange was "grayed" slightly with ult. blue so it also creates a hot combination with the blue. Add the gray of the the trees and the variations of green and the palette creates balance between the neutrals and the intense color.

Another strong contrast is the over blending in many areas to create extremely soft edges right next to a variety of hard edges. Soft and blurred edges will also cause the color to recede which adds a lot of depth.

One thing I am learning about painting this way is that it is extremely easy to overwork the piece. It is also good to work all over the piece rather than one small area. That keeps things from getting too tight. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Silver Lining"

($40.00.....6" x 6".....140lb HP mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)

"Grace is the silver lining behind every cloud." As you can see, I've taken liberties with a classic quote. The unmerited favor of God is certainly a silver lining whether there is a cloud or not.

This piece is a compilation of three sections of discarded sections of mono printed rice papers, old book pages, and silver leaf. The silver is hard to see on a computer screen, but it is clearly visible in the original.

I did need to add some more turquoise on the section at the bottom to tie it into the rest of the piece, but this is a great way to use up the "cropped off" areas from other works. It is amazing to see what elements actually go together that you would never have been able to plan in advance. So this is another spontaneous technique that can be exploited. 

Also notice that the gestural marks in the mono print contain a variety of thin and thick lines. This is much more interesting than just having one or the other so that is a good point to remember when doing these kinds of works. And of course, the thick and thin lines are precisely why hand lettering is so appealing. It provides a great contrast between the very straight and precise text in the collage. Another contrast is between the silver and the neutral colors. Pencil lettering also adds another weight and dimension to the mark making. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Harmony"

($40.00....6" x 6"....300lb. HP....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)

"Harmony is good in music, art, and life." Harmony is achieved when things work together. Apart from having personal preferences, there are ways of creating and doing things that create harmony. Wisdom is learning what those things are.

There is extreme harmony in this piece by using values that are in the same neutral range with no strong color. The contrast appears in the gestural mark making of the mono printed rice papers. All other prominent lines are very straight. 

Contrast of size is also apparent in the weight of the text in the background compared to the weight of the hand written quote and the gestural marks. The other obvious contrast is the contrast of values which of necessity has to be present in all artwork to even have a presence at all. It would have been a real "snoozer" if these contrasts had not been present. 

Harmony was further achieved by repeating design elements such as the background text, the red edge of the text pages and the gestural marks. So the focus being on harmony and contrast is a very simple way to ease into design without feeling overwhelmed. All artwork needs both. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Practice and Perseverance"

(unavailable)


"Practice and perseverance are the bread and water of success." Often we think of practice in relationship to learning a skill. Equal attention given to developing and practicing good habits is also important even if a particular skill is not involved.

After creating pouring medium pieces non stop for almost three weeks now, I am even more aware of the importance of "echoes" and contrasts. An echo is simply a repeat of something that is always there, but it doesn't need to be an identical repeat. In the piece today, I consider the line engraving an echo of the erratic band of brown and black at the bottom because of the shapes. But it is also a very good contrast between precise lines and erratic lines and contemporary vs. antique. The two shapes play off of each other very well. And even though the line engraving could be considered a floating shape with no connection, it is integrated because of its transparency and precisely because it is an echo of something already there.

This is the "tricky" part of design that is only realized after doing something over and over again. Placement of the line engraving was also important. By placing it high on the page and almost dead center, it mimics the format of a traditional document where there were headings like this and perhaps a similar ending at the bottom. So I brought it into a contemporary format by having the band of color at the bottom mimic the line engravings I've seen in so many historical documents. And, of course, this look is one I am passionate about and hence the Spencerian Script rather than gestural writing which would have been inappropriate for this look. And if my thought processes have worn you out, be encouraged. They wear me out everyday as well, but fortunately or unfortunately for me, I have a very analytical brain! And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Knowing and Doing"

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


"Knowing and doing are the twins of understanding." It is impossible to learn something by osmosis. There are people who still try, but it does not work. We all must put in our 10,000 hours before we truly become skilled. Get started!

Here is an exercise you might want to try. Rule up a page of squares and then divide each square into a division of black and white. It helps in understanding division of space. The shapes created by doing this exercise will give the piece a foundation to build upon.

In this case, the silver represents the white and the rest is a combination of black with a bit of gray. I did add some Brilliant Violet Gouache to this piece, but it would have been fine without it. There is something "classy" about black and white with no color added at all. Another thing to note here is the contrast of edges. The only really hard edge in this piece (besides the lettering) is the left hand edge of the silver. The top edge is a textured and broken edge which provides the needed contrast.

Keeping the main thing, the main thing, will unify a piece of artwork, but the contrasts will give the necessary subtlety and variety that keep the viewer looking. Try identifying the contrasts in other artist's artwork. That will help you to understand why a particular element in the design is holding your interest. If something can be analyzed and identified, it can be replicated. Just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"A New Dynamic"

(unavailable.....in the permanent collection of dee day)


"Combining two diverse elements creates a new dynamic." There is nothing quite as powerful in art or interior design as combining two diverse elements. For instance, throwing a cowhide on the floor in a contemporary setting can actually make it a more dynamic space. Be bold and try combining diverse elements. You'll will be stunned at the "dynamic" it creates.

Having an analytical mind causes me great "angst" at times, but it has proven to be a good friend when it comes to analyzing why things work in design. In the case of this piece, I knew I needed a strong focal point to fit in with what was going on in the pouring medium. My decision to have a sharp contrast by introducing hard edges was good, but I created another important contrast by choosing something from the 17th century (old Spanish choir book) and combining it with very contemporary abstraction and techniques. Some of the colors, erratic lines, and pencil writing can be seen through the tissue paper which truly helps to marry it to the supporting role of the background.

More decisions were made by tearing the piece of tissue paper to form a negative white shape in the lower right hand corner which balances out what is going on in the other (3) corners. They are all different and trust me when I tell you that paying attention to the corners makes for a much more dynamic piece and will keep the viewer engaged in your piece. If you want to compete with all of the visual imagery that bombards us all on a daily basis, you must pay attention to these kind of details. Otherwise, your artwork will simply fade into the wall and no one will notice. Just a few more things to think about.

"Portals"

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


"The ornate memories of the past are often reflected in the portals of my mind." The ornate texture in this image is at the top of the entrance to the Alamo. Now there's a portal with a lot of ornate memories!  Just to use an adjective to describe something that is not typically described by that word helps to pivot to a different perspective. Such is the case here.

This piece is all about texture. It contains simulated and actual texture. You can even see it in the lettering. (A very difficult surface to write on.) The simulated texture is the photo at the top portion of the entrance to the Alamo. There is also a band of collage which was printed on silk tissue paper. I then added some real texture in the form of Golden Crackle Paste around the corners.

After spraying all of that with Spray Acrylic Coating, I brushed on a coat of Liquitex Clear Gesso to help the surface receive soft pastels and charcoal powder. The surface was then sprayed with acrylic coating again and then prepared with gel matte medium to receive the lettering. For those who read my "diatribe" everyday, I hope you notice that I keep repeating my steps so that you can understand the complexity of mixed media and layering. My desire is to continue shaking it up a bit and adding or combining different techniques and materials to create more surface texture and depth. I will also be introducing more contrast of size, color, and gradation in the lettering to add interest as well. Just a few more things to think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Energy" (unavailable)

(unavailable)

"Energy is activated by color, passion, and movement." In order to truly understand the power of color, we would need to be in a black and white world momentarily. It is color that acts as a spark plug in our visual world. Add passion and movement to ignite a new level of energy in your daily life.

Green and orange are very powerful split complements. Set them in motion with ribbons of color in a setting of neutral purplish gray to enjoy a delightful arrangement. The technique of playing around with suspended color in Pouring Medium also provides some interesting texture that simply cannot be achieved any other way.

The lettering took on a more active role in this piece, but it was neutralized a bit by mixing the viridian green and orange together plus white. If the background is very intense with a lot of movement, it is best to knock down the intensity of the lettering. It could have been made a bit more satisfying by bringing a bit more of the intense color up into the lettering. However, it never quite works to go back into a piece where pouring medium was the vehicle to try and add something more. It will look contrived and spontaneity goes out the window. So it is what it is and of course, there's always a next time. Just something to think about.

"Core Strategy" (unavailable)

"Prayer should be the core strategy of life." A strategy is a plan. Prayer is communication with God. Pairing these two together is a wise thing to do, especially if life has gone off the "rails". (This is another 4" x 6" to be given away at an Opening Reception this coming Friday...for details check out pactofaustin.com/)

This piece is a perfect illustration of how to solve the design issue of all straight lines. If you can imagine the piece without the round image, it would be too harmonious and boring. By introducing a circular image, the piece automatically has a strong contrast which adds drama and interest. Placing the quote in close proximity to the image in a color block of gray unites all three shapes to form a focal point.

It is always a good idea to place the design elements with the greatest detail together. The eye needs a place to rest. If the entire design space has "wall to wall" detail, it can easily become visual overload. It is also good to remember that paintings are made up of shapes. Thinking of shapes from start to finish will keep us all out of the sea of confusion. Not everyone agrees with these design principles, but you can test it for itself as you view other people's artwork. If you cannot view a piece for more than (5) seconds, visual overload is probably the culprit. The viewer's eye is always looking for a place to focus. Just something to think about.

"Attitude" ($30.00)

(adjusted price.....$30.00)

"A good attitude sees roses where there are thorns." Life is not always fair and there will always be people who may not treat us well. However, the right attitude will bring joy and peace. It really is the best way to live.

This is a simple piece with more of an illustrative look. Actually, I painted the rose with all of the shading to make it realistic, but it seemed out of place. After blotting it with a damp paper towel and removing some of the color, and adding black line work, it looked like it fit more with this flat color block. Larger shapes with very little going on can automatically cause the viewer to look at the part that has the most detail and contrast. In this case, it is the bottom band of white gesso peering through the color that becomes the focal point. Making the rose flat and more like a line drawing tied the image, lettering, and textural marks together. The greatest contrast is between the totally flat areas and the ethereal, textured areas. It's just something to think about.

Please contact me personally for inquiry about this piece.

"Lines" ($40.00)

(adjusted price......$40.00)

Lines are part of art and life. They are the shorthand for defining form and every object has form. In fact, everything occupying space has form and each artist has a unique interpretation of what they see. What are you observing today?

This is a contemporary piece with very strong contrasts. The most obvious contrast is the white, black, and red color combination. There is also a hugh contrast between hard and soft edges. Different textures are present as well. The overlapping black lines created with a stamp and the expressive lettering and imagery from the paste paper are playing off of each other. Finally, the horizontal bands are different sizes, creating yet another contrast.

When creating an abstract piece based on design principles, it is always prudent to think about contrasts. Just consider including the opposite of what is present in the first layer. It can be a bit "scary", but remember, it's only paper, canvas, or whatever else you're working on. Experimenting with contrasts will give you courage. In this piece there is contrast of line, direction, color, value, texture, shape and size. Just something to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Deadline" ($30.00)

(adjusted price......$30.00)

Isn't it amazing how quickly our thinking and actions change when there is a deadline? There is nothing that galvanizes our thoughts and increases our focus when we know something is due in short order. Embrace your deadlines. They're a good thing!

Creating a piece based on geometric forms is not much different from creating a piece that gives a nod to realistic imagery. All artwork is based on a compilation of shapes.

The irregular striped pattern was made more interesting by adding blue to the brilliant orange and black. The edges were softened with water and a sponge brush. Because blue is the direct complement to orange, the combination and soft edges created a highly charged surface. The only problem was too many vertical lines. The curved line in the upper left hand corner was already in the paste paper design. By stamping and repeating that curve in the lower right corner, the vertical lines were broken up and contained.

Try your own experiments by creating an abstract piece with geometric forms. Very exciting!

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.