"Fiber Preparation" (draft 2)

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(image 2)

Deconstructing fiber is a process of painting and then sanding. Even though this is simply a "process piece" for my journal, the word deconstruction is very descriptive of some of life's processes. It generally involves deconstruction followed by building on the newly deconstructed surface. The artist has the image of the finished piece. God has the image of our finished life as the deconstruction takes place.

If you think a sander is just for deconstructing fiber...think again. It is possible to do the same thing with quality water receptive papers. I have actually sanded paper until the edge was razor thin. It is a beautiful look and I do have plans to teach that this coming year. There are many possibilities.

So yes, you can go ahead and ask Santa for an electric and variable speed palm sander for Christmas. And should you have any reluctance at all about how aggressive to be with your new tool, just come to my studio and I can show you how to have some real fun!

As you can see, there are two images today so that you can see the applied paint before the sanding. I did paint the entire piece with Titan Buff Fluid Acrylic; allowed it to dry; followed by sanding before applying the colors you see. Notice that the chevron pattern always comes back to some degree during the sanding process. So whatever texture is imprinted into that Super Heavy Gesso during the first layer remains throughout the process.

The last thing I did was practice laying in lettering with enamel paint and a mop brush. What I wanted to notice was the comparison between how this type of fiber receives this paint as opposed to the looser weave of the other fiber I've been using. This one definitely receives it better because of the tight weave and that's without preparing the surface with Gel Matte Medium. Although, I did paint the back side with black gesso in the beginning.

And these kind of details are important to notate when placing the "process piece" in your journal. Why start at square one every time you do something? I guarantee you will not remember what you did six months from now. So it makes sense to have this notated for easy reference.

So now I will be ready to select my colors for the 16" x 20" or they may remain the same as what you see today. It does help to see how they work together in this piece. One thing that will make a difference is allowing the red/purple or blue/green dominate the piece by taking up more space. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Work It Out (2)" (Process Piece)

Today's posting is another "process piece" that will continue to inform my decisions about larger works on canvas. Experimenting, making notes, and keeping "process" journals is part of the journey in creating a piece of art.

Yesterday afternoon, I tore off a good size section of fiber and covered it with black gesso. (I laid it on wax paper to keep it from sticking to a surface.)  It took a while to dry, but by evening I applied some Fluid Acrylic in a dull brown color with a "chip brush". (They are the best kind for applying paint to this type of surface.)

While the paint was still wet, I dipped a large "mop brush" into a raw sienna mixture of Fluid Acrylic and lettered directly into the wet paint. Brush lettering '"wet into wet creates a more subtle edge. I then dropped down to the bottom area and wrote with the same brush on dry and primed fiber.

You can also see an area in the middle of a stripe painted with the same brush. While the paint was still wet, I stamped into it with a commercial stamp for a bit more texture. You can see the difference in the stamping by how much paint was on the fiber in different areas.

The last thing I did was write with Bleedproof White Gouache with a pointed brush (WN Sceptre Series) followed by a few words with a pointed pen. It will obviously need to go much larger, but I am leaning towards the pen which gives a crisper finish.

I now have two fabric swatches to add to my large journal book. This will become a ready reference for techniques on fiber. It is wise to make notes on your swatches or cut them down and glue them into a journal and make notes on the journal page. "Process is the breath of creativity." And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Bienvenidos" (final)

($125.00....6" x 12".....Mixed Media on a 2" Depth Cradled Gessobord)

"Cowhide is the welcome mat of Texas." And all of the native Texans out there said...."Amen!"

I hope this process has shown the contrasts that are available by using very shiny acrylic and very textured fiber pieces. If you would like to experiment with fiber, I would suggest a lightweight muslim or something with a slight open weave in neutral/solid color. I have tried heavier fabrics and they are not as easy to manipulate and sand as the lighter weight. I personally gravitate towards a thin muslin fiber. Once the paint gets applied, it becomes stiff, but is very easy to deconstruct using a palm sander.

Another thought about Fluid Acrylics. It is expensive, but it is highly pigmented and brushes on in a thin, but even coat. And even though it takes (3-4) coats, it is quite smooth. This smoother look is very difficult to achieve by thinning down Heavy Body Acrylics. So the combination I have found to be really cool is to texturize Super Heavy Gesso by spreading it on with a palette knife and then laying different textures into it or scribbling into it with a bamboo pen. The Fluid Acrylic adheres to the gesso quite nicely, creating a very glossy and textured surface that is created in the gesso.

Experimentation is very important, even if it does not yield a successful piece. What it does yield is information on mark making, materials, process, and how to develop a strategy for a larger work. So the piece you see today has helped me work out the "kinks" for something that will be a 30" x 40" size. Doing it small first saves me a lot of time. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Feathers of Angel Wings"

(SOLD.....8" x 8".....Watercolor on 300 lb. CP Fabriano.......Presented on a 2" Cradled Board)

"The feathers of angel wings cover me with protection." Everyone likes the idea of being protected from the storms of life. The association of a feather image to angel wings rustles my imagination in a very good way.

Well.....this is the end of the angel series. It's time to move on. The position of these last set of wings came to me just before I woke up this morning. They are almost touching and seem to be enclosing an area....very much like a shelter. (Psalm 91 provides more connections with this thought.)

Of course the piece was created much the same way as the others so there's not too much to add to those comments. I guess my big take away from this particular design in conjunction with watercolor techniques was the idea of color bands and the surrounding shapes. In this case, I am referring to the stripes in the feathers, but it could also be bands of strong color with negative space in between. It might be fun to create a small piece with a wide range of different sized stripes. Paint the bands of color  in a fairly saturated manner with blank paper in between. After drying the bands throughly, take a brush dipped only in water and wet each band and the area in between and allow the pigment from the saturated color to bleed into the empty band shape. It will soften the edges of the darker color and break up some of the surface of an extremely saturated color.

Most of the time, watercolors are layered to create a darker area and in most cases that would be the preferred technique, but this also offers up some possibilities. Contemporary watercolor is a wonderful segue into experimentation and simply playing around with different ratios of pigment to water. Close observation of what happens when you apply the watercolor in various stages of wetness is also instructive. For instance....applying different ratios of pigment and water to totally wet paper....waiting until the glisten of the water leaves the paper, and "bone dry" paper.

These are some of the techniques that will prove to be useful when creating a piece. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Light As A Feather"

(SOLD......8" x 8"....on 300 lb CP Fabriano....Presented on a 2" depth cradled board)

"The spirit is quiet and as light as a feather." To hear the spirit of God within us, it is quite necessary to be quiet. The Spirit does not speak where there is loudness and chaos, but in a still, quiet voice. It is another way of looking at the verse from Psalms....."Be still and know that I am God."

You probably noticed that I took three days off from blogging. There were other more pressing issues to deal with and I really do need to sleep....so there you have it!

This is the second in my trilogy with the feather. These are (8" x 8"'s) and will be displayed together in a fall exhibit called "Poetic Collections". What I am noticing is that the more I paint the same image, the more abstract it becomes. So if you want to learn more about how to abstract an image, this is a good way.

I have begun both pieces the same way with a very wet surface....getting rid of excess water with a sponge....and then dropping in some pale yellow with a mop brush. All the other colors were glazed on dry paper and losing most of the edges with a brush dipped in water and dragged over a sponge cloth to get rid of the excess....and then touching the edge of the color just glazed. The paper, of course, was thoroughly dry before adding a new glaze.

The dark stripe shapes in the feather were painted rather dark and solid and then allowed to dry. I then got a water brush and brushed over those stripes and into the neighboring shapes to deepen the value and soften the edges of the stripes. It can look contrived and rather stark to paint dark shapes with  hard edges around the perimeter. The problem can also be resolved by paying attention to the color and value immediately surrounding the dark shape.

Another tip is to test your values on a scrap piece of watercolor paper before applying it to your piece. It is very difficult to judge the darkness and lightness of watercolor when mixing it on the palette. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Common Denominators" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

The quote has not happened yet, but the title gives me lots of options. Language and key words often provide the imagination with all kinds of images. None of us may realize just how much our eye is on the hunt for common denominators. In a way, it helps us stay sane...like counting telephone poles or automatically seeing the complementary color when looking at a particular color for a length of time.

It is quite fascinating to realize how much common denominators play a part in our lives and in our art. They are found primarily in repetitive design elements. In this piece, the repetitive element is found in the tiles. They will definitely be the focal point, but by tomorrow, this piece will be totally transformed. It will end up being a 4" x 6" which is quite small, but this is a test run for larger works.

This is an experimental piece using watercolor and gesso or bleedproof white gouache to incorporate a portion of the watercolor as the main attraction while the rest of the piece will be various intensities of the white with erratic darker lines in the background which is my very next step. I will also be knocking down the intensity of the tile work with glazing and perhaps a few aging techniques.

This first draft began with drawing in some basic outlines of the shapes of the tile with a pencil. Last night I applied masking fluid (with a dental pick....the wooden kind) to all of the white shapes you see in the tiles.

This morning, I wet the paper front and back and removed the excess water with a sponge. The yellow was then charged in with a mop brush. After that dried, I added more masking fluid over the shapes in the tiles that are yellow. Next came the Delft Blue wash over a completely wet surface. (If I had it to do over again, I would have glazed over the selected areas on dry paper.) That's why this is an experimental piece. I forgot how much the yellow would lift and mix with the blue if it was saturated with water. And that's why practice is so important. Every piece yields a bit more information about technique.

After the second layer was completely dry, I removed the masking fluid with a hard eraser designed for its removal. So today, I will experiment with the gouache and how to incorporate all of this into something cohesive and interesting. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"The Quiet" (final)

($80.00.......8" x 8"......Watercolor.......Mounted on a 1/8 Flat Panel (unframed)

"The quiet came into my heart and taught me to listen." So here is the final and this probably falls into the category of an abstract still life. A still life has the power to bring calm to any room and any heart. Add a touch of luminosity and all is well.

This was a bit nerve wracking to complete since I did not want to mess up the background. The best way to conquer this fear and gain more confidence is to have another piece going exactly like the intended one. In this case my work off piece was a 6" x 6". So when I tackled the painting of the bottle on my work off piece, I remembered how extremely difficult it is to paint a symmetrical object like a vase. The trick (and time saver) I used was to draw half of the bottle on a sketch pad....cut that part out, but leaving enough paper to fold it over and trace around the half that was cut. Finish cutting it out and use it as a template.

I also felt more confident about how to paint the bottle and check my colors by first painting on the smaller work off piece. That really helped a lot and I was able to make the proper adjustments. All of this is important because watercolor is one of those mediums that has a mind of its own. Whenever pigment and water are placed on a surface together....almost anything can happen and so the key is to learn the techniques to control that by doing it over and over again. And believe me I am no watercolor expert at all, but I do know from much experience that having a work off piece of the same material you're working on is an excellent tip and time saver. (Also reduces stress levels!)

Another conclusion I have come to in working with watercolor is that pencil is the most compatible and subtle medium when including lettering. I actually did try to write with a pen and the yellow color, but I scrubbed it off and did it in pencil. And so another trick is to place the lettering in a very light area of the piece so it will not only show up, but so you can lightly erase any mistakes. Of course, if you erase it too hard, any color that was underneath will definitely be disturbed since the paper has not been sprayed.

So many details! And that requires patience when creating any type of artwork in any medium. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Variegated" (final)

(image 1)

(image 2)

"Variegated thoughts are running through my mind." Today is the final for this piece. In the first draft, I began two pieces and posted one of them yesterday, but did not like the outcome. So today, you are viewing the second one of those pieces which has become the final.

The advantage of working on two similar pieces at the same time...especially with watercolor is that you have an extra one available in case the first one got overworked. I observed both pieces from a distance during the course of the day and decided to leave this one and not put all of the leaf detail in place. It is simply a suggestion of the leaves and by stopping before I thought I was finished, I managed to capture the luminosity.

And this is the trick with watercolor in particular. It also provides shapes you might not have imagined in the final. So my big "take away" by working on two pieces is to have both of them in front of me to compare and contrast. It's an exciting way to work.

In this piece, I also have minimal glazing. Not more than three glazes over any of the leaves. Also notice that I left the edge of the previous layer showing which gives it depth. The two gray spots in the background were created in the very first wash by slinging a slightly darker value over the piece with the brush. One "sling" is quite sufficient. If you do too much of any technique...(i.e.....saran wrap...bubble wrap...or splattering)....and the viewer notices the technique more than the overall piece, it will look contrived. In this case, "less is more".

 If you are a lettering artist and you want to have some subtle or soft lettering, use a very sharp pencil (sharpened on a sandpaper block) and write on the piece before spraying with acrylic spray coating or varnish. If you don't, the spray could create a resist and not receive the graphite. If you choose gouache....the paper will need to be sprayed (3x) with spray acrylic coating and then prepared for lettering.

Watercolor is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating mediums to work with, but does require some perseverance and close observation to what is happening between pigment, water, and the wetness or dryness of the the paper. Most of the leaf glazes in this piece were applied with a brush with most of the water squeezed out and then dipped into a "juicy" puddle of pigment and water.

After making one pass over the desired area....I banged my mop brush in the water container to remove most of the pigment ran the brush over a sponge and then quickly softened the right edge with water only. This gives the desire "lost edge" effect and also helps with luminosity and a balance between hard and soft edges. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Crossing Barriers"

(unavailable.....4" x 6"....Color Block Presented on Masonite)

"Art crosses language and cultural barriers." You can see that the text chosen for these color blocks is Italian selected and cut from an Italian Design periodical. What I have noticed is that art, as well as music, speaks to every human being no matter what language they speak or culture they come from.Quite extraordinary!

This type of "color blocking" is tremendously fun, but before you begin cutting up all of your periodicals, I have learned a few things that will keep you out of the weeds (so to speak).

First of all, the piece looks more authentic and substantial if you adhere the magazine text to 140 lb HP first....with gel matte medium. And then you need to cover your collage with wax paper and brayer with a hard (clear acrylic) brayer....preferably on a glass or granite surface to make sure all of the wrinkles and bubbles are removed from the paper.

After doing this with all of your selected pieces, make sure it is dry by blow drying the front and back of the 140 lb. HP. You will then be ready to crop and fit all of the pieces to the support. In this case I used masonite primed with black gesso. It is also a good idea to choose different sizes of text and have a range of different sized blocks. This contrast of size is very important in this type of work.

After all of the pieces have "happy faces and are all in their places" (pun from nursery school days!)....spray the entire piece (2x) with spray acrylic coating. If you are not adding additional lettering, then the piece is finished.

If you are hand lettering, drawing, or anything else....prepare the surface with (2) parts water and (1) part gel matte medium. At least (3) coats are necessary to make sure you don't damage the magazine papers or have the ability to remove the lettering should you make a mistake.

Upon completion of the hand lettering, the piece should be sprayed (2x) and left to dry for several days. I generally spray it at least (2) more times before beveling the edge with sand paper and painting with black gesso. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Stepping Stones"

($180.00......6" x 6".....Oils on a 3/8" depth Gessobord Panel....Presented in Custom Frame)

"Stepping stones will get you from one place to another." The stepping stones in this image allowed me to cross over water as well as go a bit higher on the rock. This is a beautiful metaphor for real life and choosing the right stepping stones (or choices) to reach an important goal.

In art, process is another word for stepping stones. It is important to think about what you're thinking about. In fact, an interesting exercise is to write down the questions that come to mind as you are working through the process of creating art. The very act of doing this can identify some more decisions you need to include or some you need to leave out.

In this oil painting, one of the first decisions I made was to decide what to paint. It was painted on location so the information I could have included was vast. It is quite necessary then, to have as one of your first decisions to select what to include in the painting. This sounds like one of the most logical first things to think about. I thought that, too, until I began to read that one oil painter (whose work is very skilled and mature) spends as much as (3) hours studying the area to be painted before putting paint to canvas. This was stunning to me.

So my next thought was to try and determine the myriad of things I should be studying during a (3) hour period. And that is where I am in the process today. Some of the things that came to mind were things like value studies...shapes...identifying the root colors and how intense or diluted the colors are...etc.

So my next paint out will include a clip board and pencil for taking notes rather than starting to paint first. I will also take a lot of photos as well as using a view finder before painting. This is a very important topic and my hope is that you will also be thinking about all of the questions that need to be asked while creating art.

I have a theory.....if you ask the right questions...you will get the right answer. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"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.

"Old Shack" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

As always, one idea leads to another and then another...etc. I love the color blocking using heavy body acrylics with a palette knife, but if you remember, I also have done quite a few palette knife paintings in oils. So what you see today is the beginning of another color block piece...with a twist.

Before beginning today's painting, I hunted down my small glass palette and large cake pan with a cover. Instead of using heavy body acrylics straight from the tube, I set up a double palette of a warm and cool of each primary and a lot of white. So the colors in this piece will be much less intense and have subtle transitions of color throughout.

If my instincts are correct, I believe this will be far more interesting than the painting by itself. Only time will tell since I haven't tried this before. I haven't even decided on the final size.

What I have been wanting to do is go more abstract landscapes by eliminating all of the minute details that appear in most landscapes. This type of painting yields a more "poetic" feel to the piece, especially when "graying" down the colors. Already, I have determined to have a lot of whitish/ gray colors throughout the piece and keep the whole thing fairly neutral.

The highlight of the completed work will remain the red/orange of the shack. I hesitate to say that I may never leave color blocking since my mind is in a whirl with all of the possibilities. Every time I make strong declarations, I live to eat my words. But for now, it has captured my heart. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Bravo" (Final)

(unavailable.....8" x 8" .....mixed media....mounted on a 2" depth clayboard)


"Bravo is a word for verbal applause!" It's a magnificent word and describes a job well done with only five letters. Everyone likes to hear it and this piece is actually created for someone who truly deserves it!

A lot has taken place in this piece since yesterday. One of the most obvious things is the value change, and a slight reconfiguration of several pieces. I cut one section into three pieces to add more color and create a large block of color that touches all four sides. The grays were also changed to have a predominance of white and the dark grays went to black. There is also a sliver of black amidst the colors which I really like.

In all three black sections, I added some form of lettering. It was light gray when I wrote it, but when placed into the piece it was still a bit stark. The problem was resolved by spraying the lettering with spray acrylic coating...drying with a hair dryer...and then brushing on (sparingly) some black charcoal powder. (Just a side note about a surface freshly sprayed with acrylic coating...pastels or charcoal powder stick to them much better.)

All in all, I like the piece, especially incorporating a more methodical strategy which speeded up the process. So there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Bravo" (Part 1 of 2)

(image 1)

(image 2)

There will be an original one line quote tomorrow. Today, you are looking at a detailed version of the process that has been streamlined since working on the very large piece.

This new way of accomplishing this type of color blocking has made it much easier. This whole process began last night. I delivered heavy body acrylic paint to the support and several larger pieces of the undercoat colors that I wanted to be revealed with the sgraffito technique of mark making or scratching into the top coat. The light gray pieces were remnants from the large piece I just finished yesterday. It takes about 20-30 minutes to apply paint to the pieces and support the night before. It greatly speeds up the process by having these pieces bone dry the next morning.

So this morning I began to cut and place the papers. I had a general idea that I wanted the bright colors from top to bottom with grays and black on the sides. After cutting each section, I used painter's tape to secure it to the support. After all the blocks were cut and taped down, I used a light and dark charcoal pencil to number all of them. I then took a photo which served as my map when determining how to reassemble after painting the top coat.

As I took each piece off of the support, I wrote the number and color of the topcoat on the back. This enables you to know where everything goes at the end. So what you see today in the second image is all of the pieces laid on the support, but not yet adhered.

I will allow it to dry all day and then determine if any color changes need to be made. And I can already tell you that the darker gray areas will need to go darker and probably to a black with the dark gray showing through. I left them as is so you can compare the image today with the final tomorrow. Values do make a hugh difference! And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"The Secret Place" (final)

(final)

($400.00.....24" x 36".......Mixed Media.......Mounted on a 2" Depth Clayboard)

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty...whose power no foe can withstand." (Psalm 91:1...Amplified) And here it is....totally finished!

Most of the changes from yesterday you cannot see because they involved finishing off the edges and spraying with spray acrylic coating. You will see the quote in one of the rectangles. And that's another thing I learned since doing my first piece like this. It is better to keep the final lettering in one of the geometric shapes. It is more integrated that way.

The lettering was written with a Leonardt Principal Nib and Moon Palace Ink....after preparing the surface for lettering. (2 parts water to 1 part gel matte medium brushed on with a sponge brush) The lettering style is definitely influenced by Spencerian Script, but done in a "choppy" and expressive fashion and weighted differently than normal scripts.

I must say that after trying many, many techniques and approaches to mixed media this one is my favorite. Even though I want to throw in some smaller works now with no drafts, they will be mixed in with more of this type of mixed media pieces.

So for now, I have concluded that I love heavy applications of paint with the palette knife being the method of delivery to the surface. And that's what happens when you work on your work everyday. You will eventually have a large body of work and notice what it is that you like well enough to pursue it for the remainder of your life. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"The Secret Place" (draft 8)

(draft 8)

All of the color blocks are now in their places. The entire text of Psalm 91 appears in various places three times and all text was cut from old bible pages. Tomorrow you will see the first verse written in one or two color blocks.

So much has been learned through this process. When I do another one, I will paint the undercoat on larger sections of paper (enough for the entire piece) and allow those to dry overnight. It will then be a matter of cutting up all or most of those sections and placing them on the support.

To prevent the dilemma of where to place the sections again after taking them off to paint the topcoat...I will number them on the top and back side and take a picture of the section or whole piece (depending on the size) and this will create a faster process.

Another thing that I did on this piece was change the value of a few of the blocks after they were adhered. I did this by taping off the surrounding areas and applying black with a palette knife. The brayer and alcohol were used alternately to lift the paint and create a texture that reveals part of the previous layer. In my case, I needed darker color notes sprinkled throughout the piece, but the reverse could also be true. This technique is good for any color change that's needed at the end.  And very often, it is impossible to tell until everything is adhered to the support.

I would encourage anyone to try this at least once. It is much fun and infinitely engaging. If a large size is way too intimidating and you prefer immediate results....try working on a 6" x 6" size or even smaller. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"The Secret Place" (draft 7)

(draft 7)

Today a familiar phrase comes to mind that all parents have heard..."Are we there yet?" And this is the challenge when working on large pieces. It is a long process. By tomorrow all of the pieces will be in their places.

It is very important as you work through the process of creating a piece of art to keep an open mind about letting the piece evolve naturally. Don't feel compelled to include an element just because you like it. If it's not the right thing for the piece, it really is best to leave it out. Forcing something to be included will cause the piece to look contrived.

The reason I know that is because I've created my share of contrived work and it is not a pleasant experience to realize it after the fact. Having said all of that, I wanted desperately to include a piece of kiln formed glass, but it really isn't going to work for this piece. Fortunately, I have the good sense to realize that. It's a good thing!

You can see that I have inched my way upwards with some more pieces. So far, I am pleased. Not all of the pieces are adhered yet, so I still might do some moving around. I really didn't notice until I saw the image on the computer. So taking photos of your work in process is a very effective way of seeing what you might not see while you're working. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"The Secret Place" (draft 6)

(draft 6)

I have already concluded that this piece will have (2) more drafts and then the final. So you can see that this is not a super fast way of applying paint to paper. My hope is that you find it as interesting as I do.

There is not a whole lot to add to the notes I've already posted about the techniques used in this piece. You are seeing the full palette in play at this point. For the greens, I am using Green Gold, Cad. Yellow Light,Cobalt Turquoise, and Viridian, plus the addition of white or raw umber to change values.

As far as process goes, I have discovered it is best to cut up a lot of papers at a time. And then it is good to decide what the undercoat is going to be on each one and apply that with a palette knife in the evening. That way, you are ready to go the next morning with the top coat. Otherwise, you will be standing a long time with a hair dryer in your hand.

Another key point is the way the papers and colors are arranged. I like to have some of them as long verticals and others as horizontals, plus a few squares. This really adds the drama to the piece after all is said and done.

It is also a good idea to save all of the scraps. I have changed my mind a few times and had to cut pieces to a different size after they were already painted. Those little scraps will make a nice 4"x 6". And there you have it...just a few more things to think about!

"My Bodyguard"

($80.00.....4" x 6".....Kiln Formed Glass and Mixed Media Mounted on Masonite.... Presented on an Easel)

"Christ is my bodyguard." This quote was inspired by Psalm 18. It was written by King David after God had rescued him from the hands of Saul. It is a Psalm of victory.

This piece was actually created from my "stash". Those who now have their stash of mono printed rice papers and kiln formed glass will appreciate this process. When firing glass, I try to think of sizes, textures, and whatever glass I have on hand to create extra smaller pieces that can be incorporated into mixed media. Such is the case here. It is two layers of glass with spring green powders, glassline paint, and black fine frit used to create the texture and the image of the cross.

However, I was never happy with the piece after firing because the green was too pale. All was resolved, however, when I used a cropped section of yellow green mono printed rice papers to go behind the glass. The first step was to paint a 4" x 6" piece of masonite with white gesso 2x.

I then adhered the mono printed paper onto this support with gel matte medium. I selected a portion of Psalm 18 from an old bible and adhered that on top of the mono printed paper. All of that was dried thoroughly with a hair dryer and sprayed 2x with spray acrylic coating.

I wrote the quote on the glass with a Leonardt Principal nib and tracing black powder plus clove oil. Today I will fire that piece of glass again along with (4) others lined up with the lettering already done....waiting to be fired.

Tomorrow I will adhere this glass on top of the mono printed rice paper with E6000...being careful not to touch or move it for 24 hours. This is just another way rice papers and old book pages can be used. The glass always adds an extra bit of "pizazz" to the piece.

For this type of mixed media...I do think it is best to have a significant amount of transparent glass exposed to reveal the mono print. It all depends out how much you want to reveal. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Contact me personally to inquire about this piece.