"Su Camino" (draft 1)

"Espera en Jehova, y guarda su camino." This verse from Psalm 37: 34 is translated...."Wait for the Lord and keep his way." It is a short verse packed with two specific commands that give guidance in all kinds of circumstances.

This piece is a continuation of a new path I am taking with acrylics and fiber on canvas. If you look closely, you can see texture and writing in the background.

The background was created with Super Heavy Gesso (Liquitex) on a 12" x 12" stretch canvas. I used a strip of grid like mesh used in taping and bedding a wall by laying it in rows on top of the wet gesso and picking it up with a palette knife. This was repeated until the whole piece had this texture. I then used a bamboo pen to write my text in Spanish at the top and bottom.

After all was completely dry (overnight), I primed it with black gesso...allowed that to dry....and then mixed up the yellow orange color from Fluid Acrylics. This mixture was applied with a sponge brush in two applications...drying in between.

After the last coat of paint was thoroughly dry, I lightly sanded it to reveal some of the black and white gesso underneath and cause the texture to be more visible. While all of that was going on, I was also painting black gesso on my fiber followed by sanding, painting, sanding, painting, etc. until the texture you see today was achieved.

It has not been adhered to the support because I like to write on a flat, hard surface rather than fighting with a canvas. Of course, lettering will make all the difference in the world and I will be posting that tomorrow. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Essential Ingredients" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

This is the beginning of a highly textured piece. Today's draft is only one part of a horizontal band of fibers adhered to canvas. The entire piece is created with bands of texture and color. The white you see today ends up becoming a very dark green with the bright green showing through.

The particular fiber you see today is a very loose weave of burlap with some of the threads removed and coated with gesso on both sides. A format of horizontal bands is an excellent way to showcase color and texture. It is best, of course, to have the bands in different widths and different textures and colors. This automatically opens the door to alternating the bands.

In addition to three different bands of this particular fiber, I am also including duck cloth which has also been coated with gesso on both sides. It is risky to add fiber to a canvas without it first being washed and dried or coated with gesso first. Adhering it before taking these steps can leave some puckering. This is unlikely to happen on a cradled board, but I have not tried that, but other artists have with success.

Basically, anything can be gessoed and adhered to a support to create texture. It is probably a good idea to keep the main thing, the main thing rather than adhering anything and everything in a haphazard fashion. Another option is to adhere fibers on select areas of the canvas to create some texture with a majority of the design space left free of too much detail. It's all a process. Look at rugs and quilt designs for inspiration images.

Going in this direction clearly places the artist in the "colorist" camp which can be a great place to land since color is the most emotional of the design elements. I believe texture is a close second. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Erratic Lines"

(unavailable....4" x 6"....on 300 lb. HP.....mounted on masonite)

"Erratic lines have their own poetry." This is true especially when they are showcased against a very vibrant color. It is quite fun to see how many erratic lines you can spot in your everyday surroundings. Look at tree limbs...cracks in the concrete...the movement in an electrical cord reaching to the socket, etc. They have energy and that's why we like them!

This piece was inspired by my desire to experiment with Super Heavy Gesso (Liquitex). I applied it with a palette knife on 300 lb. HP. A texture tool was used to create the vertical lines and then I swiped through some of those lines with a palette knife and also made some gestural marks with the corner of a palette knife. This was left to dry overnight. (It is very thick and cannot be dried with a hair dryer.)

The following morning, I painted the yellow/green over the entire piece with a sponge brush (3x) using Fluid Acrylics and drying in between. The erratic black lines were also Fluid Acrylic and diluted slightly and applied with a palette knife and also pouring a bit from the bottle. The texture created by the gesso helped create the shape and direction of the black paint. Notice that the lines go from top to bottom and also create a few shapes in several different sizes. Creating shapes informed my choice of where the paint was applied. And this application of black paint also had to dry overnight.

The line of lettering was kept straight and written expressively with a pointed pen, Moon Palace Ink, with a very small x-height. Erratic lines and mark making are wonderful for mixed media work of all kinds. Mark making can be created with an infinite variety of odd things you probably have lying around your house or yard. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Surface Texture"

(unavailable.....4" x 6".......on 300 lb. HP......mounted on masonite)

"Texture reveals depth and complexity." It is so true that texture is appealing on so many levels. Otherwise, why would people pay good money to buy antique items with layers and layers of texture?

The funny story I have about texture has to do with the person who stained the concrete floor in my studio. He was very concerned about the "splotchy" surface created by oil stains and paint that had spilled. He was quite relieved that I thought he was doing a great job and that I was totally unconcerned about splotches. My reply was this..."Artists spend hours and many layers to achieve this look so please carry on!"

If you want the perfect segue into abstraction, start collecting your images of all kinds of surface textures. They provide the perfect jumping off point for a piece of art. In the case of today's posting, the image was some kind of industrial looking table with this hole that was probably used for a hose or something. That hole in the metal became the focal point for this small experimental work.  This is probably my most satisfactory way of creating abstraction. Texture is definitely a core part of my voice. If you feel the same way, this is a great exercise.

I began by painting two coats of heavy body black acrylic paint on a piece of 300 lb. HP. After drying these layers thoroughly, I mixed up a gray from Ultramarine Bl. and Burnt Sienna plus White. This mixture of gray is great because you can warm it up or cool it down quite easily. Sponge brushes were used for all of the paint application. After applying this coat of gray, I scribbled lettering and other erratic marks into the paint. Dried with a hair dryer.  Spraying alcohol and removing paint erratically with a brayer created the texture.  You might also use a paper towel to remove larger amounts of paint. The idea is to make it look convincing by abrading the surface as erratically as possible. The other two layers were applied and abraded the same way. They were Burnt Sienna and White Fluid Acrylics.

More marks can also be carved into the surface after the alcohol and brayering is done and before it's dry. As you can see, this technique creates a highly textured surface. It is well worth an experimental piece of your own. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Color Poetry" (final)

($150.00.....12" x 12"....mixed media on 140 lb. HP....mounted on a 2" cradled gessobord)

"Color is the rhythmical composition that creates poetry in the landscape." It is a more subtle form of color blocking and a completely experimental piece. I was influenced somewhat by a lavender farm and there are vague color forms that could bring the image of that type of scene to mind.

This piece is all about alternating color and texture. White gesso was one of the leading players in this technique so I am pleased about what I learned. Now I am in the mood to do another gesso piece without the color blocking. It is a very captivating technique, but after all is said and done, I do prefer the color blocking pieces to be created with heavy body acrylics and bright colors played against neutrals.

It is always a good idea to play close attention to what you keep coming back to in the way of tools, techniques, and composition. Experimentation is a must for most artists to discover what direction they want to expend their time and energies on. Mine seem to change, but I am noticing that some things keep resurfacing on a regular basis. Even though I continue to gravitate towards the contrast between transparency and opacity, I have very strong feelings about the palette knife and the texture it creates.

So I will probably not be gravitating to oil paintings that have thin applications of paint. Just "show me the paint" and I am much happier! Gestural mark making and lettering is another hugh deal in my art voice. It gives so much energy to a piece and gives voice to my basic love of lettering. Even when I have a palette knife in my hand, I have a tremendous urge to use the corner of the knife to write into the paint. And it's even better even there is an undercoat of a different color that shows through after the mark making.

So I guess the point of all of this is to think about what "floats your boat" in the deepest levels of your being. We all have a unique art voice and it takes time and reflection to sort all of that out, but that is one of my purposes for sharing my own thoughts on the subject. Sometimes it will allude you altogether and you will need to hear it from another artist. Be a willing partner in giving other artists that type of feedback as well as giving it those who ask you for it. Or you can do what I do and give your feedback even when it is unsolicited. If an artist thinks that oils are their "deal" and yet they keep talking about and show passion for three dimensional work then maybe they need to hear that from somebody who is listening to what they're saying. They will be grateful in the end. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Color Poetry" (draft 3)

(draft 3)

This piece now has a title which will definitely narrow down the multitude of directions it could have taken. And that is the beauty of decision making. With each decision the lens of the visual artist gets more and more focused.

My most important decision today was choosing a color to go with the red/orange color of the first two postings. After posting yesterday, I did go back in and beef up the color of the red with a few passes of dilute fluid acrylic (burnt sienna). Most of my time this morning was spent creating the purple color. The purple I chose was Dioxazine (Golden) which is very intense. I did mix in a lot of Burnt Sienna to gray it down a bit and create a common denominator with the color from the first sheet.

The technique of creating the second sheet was the same as the first which created another common denominator of texture. It was then just a matter of selecting a cradled board (2") which is a 12" x 12". I began the process of cutting these two sheets into smaller pieces by using two "L's" as a cropping tool. The lower left hand corner piece was selected first. And then I made the decision to have the burnt sienna pieces be the dominating color and you can also see that those pieces touch all four sides of the design space.

My plan today is to paint a small still life on the piece (with a palette knife). This means I will be switching to heavy body acrylics. But before I do that, there is a possibility I might brayer on some more gesso. I will not make that decision until this afternoon. This gives me time to look at my posting today on my iphone which gives me a different perspective than looking at the actual piece in the studio.

All of the pieces are adhered to the board except for the one that will contain the small still life. And then I will need to come up with an original quote. To this day I still cannot believe that for one year I wrote the quote first followed by the visual. It is so much better to create the visual first. This also holds true for concepts and writing an interpretation for your piece. Trust me.....and do the visual first. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"New Leaf" (final)

($50.00......6" x 6".....mixed media on 140 lb HP....mounted on a flat panel gessobord)

"A new leaf is a fresh start." Most of us have made declarations about turning over a new leaf. It is a fresh start if the goal is reached. It's a known fact that it takes 21 days to break an old habit. It has worked for me, but not in every situation. So this piece is about associating a fresh start with breaking an old habit.

Color wise I like this piece a lot, but it is very risky to include stamped designs of very particular images in a piece of fine art. Even though this is a hand cut stamp based on a real leaf, it can become a bit cliched. Actually, it is much better to paint an actual image that requires skill level than become too "cute" with these kind of devices.

When dealing with techniques that deal with texture, I prefer to stick with geometric forms which have a long history in the arts because all images (painted, stamped, or drawn) are made up of shapes. And the more an artist goes towards the pure geometry of a shape, the more abstract it becomes.

Pure color blocks with no texture, however, can become quite sterile and boring. So one of my purposes right now is to fine the happy place where I feel totally satisfied with my divisions of space and the shapes formed within shapes that are indicative of this type of work.

So instead of beating up myself too badly about using such a purely decorative device as a leaf stamped on and into the paint, I simply consider it something I will probably not do again. And there is the other reason for blogging and working on my work every day.

It is a disconnect in learning how to do art, if the creative process is interrupted for too long a period of time. It makes much more sense to do a daily analysis of your work and identify the weak and strong points so as to redirect the course of the work. It has and always will be about process. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this work.

"The Coast" (final)

(unavailable......6" x 24"......acrylics.....mounted on a 2" cradled gessobord)

"Childhood memories take me back to the color, sounds, and smell of the coast." Yes, I did change the title since yesterday. And that's how it goes with the creative process. It's like playing musical chairs until everybody is in the right chair.

This is a very unusual size, but I quite like it. (6" x 24") Since yesterday, I completely finished the piece and totally enjoyed the process of bringing texture to all of these color blocks. The section I posted yesterday is like a painting within a painting. You can see how the jagged line of the coastal rocks represented by the brown in that one section creates a totally contrasting shape from all of the the straight edges.

Of course, there are lots of contrasting lines within each block, but that one section pulls it all together. So in essence what I have done is actually fragmented the image of the first block by enlarging parts of the seascape to show more detail. For instance, the white and blue blocks represent the sky while the brown areas represent the "jetties" and detail that is not present in the abstract seascape.

In one of the blocks, I added a third layer of paint after the first two layers were dried and then brayered that color and sprayed alcohol alternately until the desired texture was achieved. You can see that block positioned directly above the burnt sienna color. The third color I added to that block was white, but you can see that as the alcohol broke up the paint underneath, that the white turned gray and created a very weathered look.

It is also helpful to have a variety of your favorite cradled clayboards on hand so you can go ahead and mount the piece. This morning, I have painted the sides of the clayboard white which gives a very fresh look and complements the coastal mood. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Orad Sin Cesar" (draft 3)

(draft 3)

Slowly but surely the small and the large piece are coming together. The focus is on portraying Psalm 119: 130 visually and include this verse from The Message.

The collage technique I am using is an exciting way to use color and texture in a different way. Each piece is being prepared separately which can be time consuming, but I have speeded up the process by cutting many different squares and rectangles from 140 lb. HP.

The undercoat is painted on many of them at once and left to dry. I then come back later and apply the top coat with a palette knife. If I want my marks to reveal the undercoat a great deal than I use the corner of a credit card or metal palette knife to make gestural marks in the wet paint which in turn, reveals the color underneath.  If I want sharper and more subtle marks, I dry the paint first and then spray it with rubbing alcohol and brayer over and over.  I can then stop and scratch into the paint with the sharp corner of a palette knife.  On some of the pieces,  I then sprayed with alcohol and brayered over the surface again until satisfied with the texture.  All of this is then dried and sprayed with acrylic coating before placing it on the support.

In a few pieces today, I did use a stamp into the wet topcoat and also stamped half of a handcut "O" with Speedball Printing Ink after the topcoat was dry.   I also plan to create a small arched doorway with a palette knife, painting wet-into-wet for one of the pieces.

This technique offers a glorious opportunity to use fragments of old paintings, try new techniques, add text and rice paper, etc. Where you see large black spaces in today's posting is the support and will eventually be totally covered with my separate pieces. Some of the pieces have been moved around, but nothing has been adhered to the support just yet.

Today, I may adhere the white toned areas since most of them have been decided upon. It is very difficult to keep everything in place when nothing is secure. Part of the experimentation process is learning what works and doesn't work as you go along. If one section of color seems satisfying, then it just makes sense to go ahead and glue that down with gel matte medium to make it easier to fit the other colors in their places.

The key to success in this type of work is having enough common denominators throughout the piece and also having specific shapes by grouping a particular color together to form a larger shape. Having specific shapes helps to ground a collage that might otherwise look like a "hodge podge". 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.

"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.

"Texture"

(Small Study in Kiln Formed Glass....3.50" x 6.50")

There is no quote associated with today's image, but there is lettering. Today's posting is all about texture and how to create it with the characteristics of line using materials involved with kiln formed glass.

Everything I say today about "line" quality also applies to the mono printed rice papers which will begin tomorrow. In this small study (3.50" x 6.50"), the line work began in conjunction with the application of black glass line paint on clear glass (Tekta). 

After applying the paint with a palette knife, I made some gestural marks in the paint when it was almost dry and with corner of a palette knife. By angling the palette knife, I was able to achieve a thicker line removed from the paint. The paint is not easily removed at this stage without it globbing up a bit, but in my mind that simply adds to the texture. 

Black and orange powders were then applied. You can also see that thinner lines and shapes were also scratched out of the paint. Paying attention to the dilution of the glass line paint is important to achieve a contrast of line or mark making in the paint. It's a combination of both types of line that adds interest to the texture. Crystal Clear powder was sprinkled over the whole sheet since glass line paint fires to a dull finish without powders.

I then composed a two layer collage using Chalky Pink (which also looks like a pale lavender depending on the light) as a base for the collage. This particular glass is a special production and may or may not be available in the future.

After firing this two layer collage which was a square shape (app. 6.50" x 6.50") I decided I didn't like it so I cut it with a glass saw on the diagonal to add a more dynamic division of space. I also added some gold purple and lavender fine frit, but it did not show up after firing. It seems that black and orange eat up other colors.

So the last textural element was the lettering done with a pointed pen using tracing black powder and clove oil. (Leonardt Principal Nib) It was then fired at a temperature not exceeding 1250 degrees. (A higher temperature will cause the lettering to spread out and sometimes dissipate.)

This is just a study for me to reference to look at the way these textures and line work appear together. For those of you who like to used mixed media to practice some possible textures that could be used in your glass work, just pretend that when you brayer out the Speedball Printing Ink and remove parts of it to make your texture....that is the equivalent of removing glass powders to create texture. It is much cheaper to experiment with mono printed rice papers than it is to experiment with glass. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Ashes"

($100.00......6" x 6".....Kiln Formed Glass Collage.....Presented on an Easel)

"Rise up out of the ashes and trust again." The texture and color of this glass very much reminds me of ashes. And since we are now in the season of Lent, it seemed very appropriate. The truth of the matter is that there are times in everyone's life when it seems as though everything has turned to ashes. Stay hopeful, trust God, and rise up out of the ash heap.

As I have explained before, three layer glass collages are very much like mixed media layering. The advantage of glass is that true transparency can be achieved quite easily. It is the combination of texture created with glass powders/frits combined with other glass that creates fantastic depth and complexity. It's a classic case of one medium playing off of another and vice versa.

So, in mixed media, I create that transparency with silk tissue paper and rice papers along with revealing bits of the previous texture. A very good exercise is to study textures that you see in walls, ancient looking photos, etc. and try to figure out how the texture was achieved. One thing I do know is that it is not created with one layer of paint.

Try diluting one color of acrylic paint with water or Fluid Acrylics and brushing a glaze over the paper. After that dries, choose another color and do the same thing. Only this time, blot or brayer parts of the paint off to reveal the first layer. Let that dry and do it again. After you've had experience with this type of layering the paint, you will begin to see textures you never thought you could achieve. 

Also try throwing alcohol into the paint (about the third layer) and brayering over it....wiping the brayer....more alcohol....more brayering...wiping off and you will be stunned at the texture you can achieve. It's a wonderful way to experiment and if you look closely at old walls with peeling paint, you will figure out what color to lay down first. All very exciting! And there you have it....just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Beauty"

(unavailable.....in the collection of dee day.....5" x 5"....Acrylics on Canvas....mounted on a clayboard.)

"Bandage your heart with beauty." There are only two things that pierce the heart....beauty and affliction. This piece was cropped from a larger one where the word beauty was written a bit "wonky", but it works with this quote, especially with the three cross stitches underneath. When our hearts are in need of healing, beauty is the healing balm.

The original larger piece was painted with acrylics and palette knife on canvas. I always liked the colors, but not the entire piece so I cropped it to this smaller 5" x 5" version and added the one line quote with pointed pen and gouache. The surface was prepared to receive lettering by brushing on (2) parts water to (1) part gel matte medium. It's tricky because at first the medium will not want to attach to the slick surface. By securing the piece to a surface...you can cause it to adhere to the piece by holding a hair dryer in one hand and brushing with the other. (I've mentioned this many times before, but here it is again in case you like to letter over acrylic paint or metal leaf.)

 Besides the palette knife texture, I particularly like to stitch through canvas to create more texture. There are many other ways to do this. For instance, I have seen special effects with yarns and threads and beads hanging from a support. The only caution that comes to mind is to make sure it fits perfectly with your colors and concept or it will look very contrived.

In the case of stitching and then painting over it, the integration is complete and the surprise element of the stitching is always appealing to the viewer. If you like extreme texture, you can also stitch on another piece of fabric and paint over the whole piece to get another effect. These types of texture do work well in all kinds of concepts, but are particularly effective to get a "moody" ethereal look going on. I cannot almost hear those of you on my art team at church coming up with all kinds of ideas. Just make sure it's convincing. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Bushes and Weeds"

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

"Bushes and weeds add texture in the landscape." There are some areas where weeds are not welcome, but in the untamed landscape, they provide a lot of interesting texture. Analogies can also be made in life. No one wants to be in the "weeds", but sometimes that is where we learn the most.

This is an extremely simple composition , but the simplicity offers an opportunity to play around a bit with the palette knife and create some interesting texture...as in the foreground. I also used the freedom of creating a simple piece to play around more with the palette knife by varying the length and direction of each stroke.

Also notice that diagonals were created with the shadows in front of the background trees. So even if the piece does not have obvious diagonals, they can be created by the way the paint is laid down.

One of the reasons the fall landscape is so appealing is the variation in color.   The orange in the foreground weeds is a direct complement of the sky color and a split complement of green. It's not as strong a "power punch" as red and green, but it is actually a bit more soothing.

Corners are still very much on my mind, so I made sure the image was cropped so that the tree line was different in each upper outside corner. It makes for a more interesting shape than having the same height all the way across. If Christmas doesn't have you all in a "knot", you might want to get your paints out today! And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Rustic"

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

"Rustic is another name for nostalgia." Old and poetic looking places really do create a sense of nostalgia. The outbuildings in this painting are a part of the Arboretum at the Biltmore Estate. The holidays seem to bring out memories of rustic places we've been. This is one of my favorites.

Most of the time, texture in painting is simulated...meaning that it is implied by the values and shapes created by the way the paint was applied. Heavier applications of oil paint or acrylics can create both. So you will see texture created by the values and also the "real" texture of the paint itself. 

Texture is a grainy, fibrous, woven, or dimensional quality as opposed to a uniformly flat, smooth aspect; surface interest. (meaning from Design Language by Tim McCreight...available from John Neal Bookseller)

It is to the artist's advantage to exploit this particular design element  because it can be so irresistible to the viewer. Real texture can be incorporated with thick paint, acrylic mediums, collage elements, mosaics, and assemblages. Texture is precisely why most people would rather have an original piece of art rather than a print. No matter how good the print quality is, it can never replace the original artwork in a viewing experience. 

So I encourage anyone that creates artwork to think deeply about ways to incorporate real texture in your work. A sgraffito technique in wet paint is one of the simplest ways just as I did with the lettering in this piece. It's a great way to enter into the world of gestural mark making with a variety of different tools. You might just want to pick up a stick and make an erratic mark in wet paint (oil or acrylic) and feel how satisfying it is. It might become addictive! And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"The Pine Cone"

($60.00......6" x 6"....300 lb HP mounted on a 1.50" depth clayboard)

"Form, texture, and memories reside in the pine cone." I've always had a fascination for pine cones. They have a compelling form and texture and they bring back memories of pine trees, camp, Christmas, fall, etc. They're wonderful!

This entire piece is about texture. The drawing of the pine cone was done with a pointed pen with a simple line drawing interpretation. My desire was to have a lot of rich brown color and a lot of texture. I naturally turned to walnut ink for the brown which you can see in the stained rice papers from top to bottom.

The text fragments are a few more selections from a very old copy of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's book of poetry. Many of the odd textural shapes were created by deconstruction...adhering the paper and then pulling it off. Even in the lettering, my desire was to have a very textural feel that integrated with the background texture. 

The placement of the pine cone at the bottom edge of a shape created by revealing the black gesso in the background was a natural way of creating an edge to edge shape. A few more darks in and around the pine cone completed that edge to edge look. 

Also notice how the text fragments create recurring shapes throughout. Texture is compelling, adds richness to a piece, and is worth exploring. Layering, staining, deconstructing, and drawing are all ways to add texture. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Seasonal Change"

($125.00....6" x 6"....Oils on Gessobord floated on a linen mat in a custom frame)

"Seasonal change reveals itself in color." This is an oil painting done with a palette knife in Boone, North Carolina. The seasonal change here is all aglow in oranges, yellows, reds, and greens. It is a stunning display of God's creation!

Even if you might feel intimidated by painting a landscape with a palette knife, it is a tool I highly recommend just to experiment with the many different kinds of texture. And even though this piece was created with oils, it could also have been done with acrylics. Just by adding some retarder to the paint, you can have quite an extended period of drying time.

One of the many reasons I am exploring techniques with the palette knife is to force myself not to put every leaf on the tree or include all of the other details that one would actually see on location. It also helps to stand back away from the painting to get an accurate view of how the painting is viewed from a distance.

The one other thing that is always important to me is the inclusion of my quote. It is really not very readable, but I wrote it with the point of a palette knife going up vertically on the right hand side. It creates an interesting texture. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Fragments"

($60.00.....6" x 6"....300 lb HP mounted on a 1.50" depth clayboard)

"Fragments leave traces of the whole." Any quality or characteristic of a thing reveals the source of its origin. In art, collage is an example of this. In life, what we allow to influence our thoughts determines the source.

In this piece, there are definitely many parts of something else. I chose to use the back side of some pieces of mono printed rice papers because of the interesting texture. There is also some deconstructed pieces where the texture was created by adhering a piece to the support and then pulling it up before it dried completely. This leaves a segment of the adhered piece without having the whole piece. It's an exciting way to create spontaneous texture. 

There is also a piece or two colored with walnut ink which gives the deep rich brown colorations. So the combination of adhering papers in the traditional manner and including deconstructed pieces gives a rich "aged" and textural surface that cannot be created any other way.

Another inclusion is the white fluid acrylic drips which were poured onto rice paper and left on wax paper to dry. I then cut around these "drips" before adhering them to create a contrast of texture to what was already there. Texture is a compelling design element so learning techniques that increase the contrast between different types of texture will give you a compelling surface. 

Arranging the textures to form interesting "value shapes" is the other important consideration. Having shapes overlap and go from edge to edge to form a larger block is a good decision to make. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Empty to Full"

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




"Thanksgiving transforms empty to full." Thanksgiving is a reverential act that gives all of us the full life we want to experience. Making a mental or actual list of the many things we can be grateful for is a very good start.

When I think of overflowing abundance, my visual memory takes me back to the outdoors and the colors I experience in that environment. This piece is a "nod" to the dominant colors in most landscapes such as trees and grass and leaves. Texture is something I have also been experimenting with and Glass Bead Gel has been my ally along with Speedball Printing Ink.

I have already discussed the layering process of this particular technique in previous postings, but it never hurts to be mindful of shapes, division of space, corners, and edges. What I have noticed is that a straight edge has a very stabilizing effect on a chaotic surface. Just make sure there is a contrast by adding a substantial amount of erratic or uneven edges. I did add a piece of collage made from a cowhide image to give me one of those straight edges. It's hard to tell where it is, but it did achieve the desired outcome. And the goal in most of my collage work using this type of background is to integrate it so well (color wise) that it is barely discernible.

If you like texture, this type of layering is very addictive and compelling and I would encourage you to do your own experiments. The water soluble printing ink is fabulous because it will stick to any kind of surface and writing or imprinting with water following by blotting will reveal the previous layer...which goes to the heart of integration. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.