"Art Happens"

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"Art happens by design." There are rare moments when art seems to come together perfectly with no "snags".   Most of the time, artists need to know enough to put all of the elements together.  It is a lifelong study.

This is another mixed media piece showing how to incorporate fused glass into the piece. This particular glass was textured with glassline paint, using a palette knife and then adding powders to the paint, inscribing the word artwork before firing. Just so you know.... I did not create this piece of glass for this particular piece, but it was part of a number of pieces fired at the same time and done months ago. Fortunately for me, the colors happened to go with the colors in this piece.

Instead of using an old book cover to frame out the glass, I used some scraps of the the text pages mounted on 300lb. HP which accommodates the thickness of the glass. In fact, this whole piece is different sections of bits and pieces and I arranged them to create erratic edges of the black background. You can get more interesting sizes this way. Very often, the sizes of the text pages tend to be laid down too predictably and this cropping and rearranging method circumvents that issues. It will also inform the way you lay down papers in the future. It is the line work and edges created by the black background that gives these types of pieces so much drama. 

And of course, the old book pages turn colors even more when sprayed with Spray Acrylic Coating. The glass provides a different texture and is one of the most time honored mediums to include in your work. It's been around a very long time and has the transparency and reflective qualities that will always bring your artwork to another level. Stained glass or found pieces of glass could also be included. (It will be important to incase the glass in a book cover or like I did in this piece to keep sharp edges from hurting people who have an insatiable desire to touch the glass.) 

The exploration of paper and glass together is an inviting thought process so I would encourage any of you who are feeling adventurous to see what you can do. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.