"Angelica"

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

"An angel is a body guard sent by God." Angelica is Spanish for angel so it became the perfect title. Angels have specific assignments and I like to think that one of them is my body guard. It's a very comforting thought!

My experimentation is continuing by deleting the strong color and going totally neutral. There are also many more layers of papers just to create a tonal and textural variation. There are several techniques that I am consciously doing to give better integration and a sense of depth. When I overly a paper that is already there, I try to cut it a bit smaller and reveal the edge of the previous layer. It creates a lot of interest with edges and a sense of mystery by allowing some text to show or other texture.

To enhance the "back and forth" conversation between text overlaid with rice paper and other areas that have no text,  adhered just a fragment of the text into the static area. It then becomes more integrated with the piece. And if you look closely just above the quote there is a faint image of angels. It was a line drawing that I had printed on silk tissue paper, but after it was adhered, it was too much. When it was removed, it left a faint image which turned out to be far more subtle.

For those of you who are enamored with walnut ink, there are several pieces of rice paper that were stamped and colored a bit with a dilute portion of the ink. And of course, the three main dark areas are mono printed with black printing ink, gold orange (acryl gouache) with gestural marks in the paint. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Poderosos en Fortaleza"

($200.00.....12" x 12".....300 lb. HP mounted on a 1.50" depth clayboard)

"Praise the Lord, you His angels. You His mighty ones, who do His bidding, who obey His Word." (NIV) This is the last of three larger works created for an exhibit at Open Doors Gallery at Hill Country Bible Church. In another posting I referred to angels as the caretakers or caregivers of the world. That was inspiration for choosing this particular scripture.

Many artists have trouble with choosing a format, especially in a collage arrangement. The type of format I have chosen is a grid format. So when I am laying down papers, most of the first layers have straight edges. There are a few torn edges and overlapping shapes that create other shapes, but over all, you can see a grid formation, but it is not precisely measured or layed down in a precise manner. It was done very spontaneously.

My two main color selections were orange and blue, with blue having a slight edge over the orange in percentage of space it occupies.  If I had chosen to "tone" down the piece more, I could have allowed the blue or the orange to be obviously more dominant. By allowing them to occupy almost the same percentage of space, it becomes more dramatic. But of course, the black, gray, and white areas are dominant in this piece. 

In the next few weeks, I will be experimenting with strongly contrasting percentages to achieve all kinds of different looks. So when you look at an interior of a room with colors you love, pay very close attention to percentages and the amount of detail in a room. If you like clean contemporary rooms, you will want to cut a whole lot of the detail and have more translucent areas where text or imagery is barely visible and color areas have little or no detail. By choosing one kind of paper (such as rice paper) and mono printing them yourself, you can create more unity than you will get by grabbing just any old paper that's lying around. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Caretakers"

(unavailable)

"Angels are the caretakers of the world." There are celestial beings known as angels and then there are people who have the gift of mercy who are also angels. God uses both.

(This piece along with all of the other 4 x 6's I've posted will be given away in a drawing at an upcoming Opening Reception for "Visual Rhapsody".  The date is Friday, Sept. 21st.  For more information check out our website at http://www.pactofaustin.com  Everyone is invited!)

This is a piece created on 300lb. HP watercolor paper. I worked on a larger sheet and began by painting it with black gesso. The papers chosen for the "frame in frame" collage layout were first prepared by mono printing on rice paper. (Mine was purchased at Jerry's and it's called Shanghai)

The process of preparing the rice paper was quite dependent on Speedball Printing Ink and a rubber brayer. The color was brayered on a glass surface and then texturized with gestural marks created with the edge of an old credit card. After these strips of paper were painted, they were dried and sprayed with Spray Acrylic Coating since the ink is water soluble. The importance of this step is to achieve some movement in the piece since most of the edges are straight. However, I took care to have some torn edges as well and to vary the angle a bit. If this is not done, the piece will become very static.  The papers were then caredfully adhered on the support with Gel Matte Medium.  (Golden)

Also notice that the text was adhered to the surface and then overlaid with a blank piece of the rice paper. It is important to include some plain white parts for the sake of light and dark values. Overlaying the rice paper over another image or text also gives a translucent effect.

After the collage was finished, I sprayed again with acrylic coating, dried with a hair dryer, and mounted it on a 4" x 6" piece of masonite. I then poured a white mixture of pouring medium over the entire piece, followed by spraying it with water to remove most of it.  It is very important to mount the piece, if you are simply doing a pour to create a hazy or encaustic look.  I did leave on a considerable amount over the capital "A". It was left to dry overnight and then the surface was prepared for lettering and completed this morning. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.