"Emerging Spring"

(unavailable.....6" x 6".....experimental piece)

"Spring emerges from the thaw." Of course this quote is not applicable to Austin in terms of having snow and ice. I took some liberties because of the background I was experimenting with. It is true, though, in other parts of the country. Thank you God for planting me in Texas!

This is a pouring medium piece deconstructed with a sander and gesso. If you have some pouring medium pieces you are not particularly fond of, this is a way to change it into something else. First, you must adhere your piece to a gessobord or clayboard or masonite. It needs to be on a hard surface and dried over night. (Do not try to sand it immediately after adhering to the board or you will have a "hot mess" on your hands.)

The following morning you can sand the piece with an electric sander and rough sand paper. It will take a lot of sanding to take off some of the detail in the pour because the color is all the way through and not just on top of the paper. You will not be able to get it to the lightness you see in this posting just by sanding. 

The next stage is to apply gesso in thin layers with a sponge brush and then dip the brush in water and keep brushing the piece. The gesso will be dilute and very "sloppy". Hold it up and let it drip onto a paper plate or other surface and then dry with a hair dryer. You will repeat this process several times until you are satisfied with amount of pouring medium being revealed. 

In the last gesso application, I kept it undiluted and pushed it around with a credit card to get the more solid areas of white. Dry completely and spray with Acrylic Coating and then prepare for lettering or leave as is. Part of my experimentation was with the values of the lettering. I wrote in several places with pencil...followed by gray gouache...and then the actual quote was written with Moon Palace Sumi Ink. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.