"En Mi Corazon" (final)

($125.00)....8" x 8"....Mixed Media Mounted on a Gessobord Panel....Presented in a Custom Frame)

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119: 11...NIV) So here is the final of this 8" x 8" piece presented under glass in a frame with a balsa wood spacer between glass and art. It is a spectacular way to present this kind of work rather than using a shadow box with a 2" depth.

If you like ethereal and aged looks, you will love this way of layering. In essence, it is alternating layers of white gesso over color which was dried and sprayed with spray acrylic coating and prepared for lettering. Brush lettering was added followed by soft pastels. It was then sprayed again and prepared for the next layer and another layer of white gesso (diluted) was applied with a credit card and then brayered. But the next step will give you some nice texture. You end up by spraying alcohol onto the surface and then brayering in all directions and many times...spraying again with alcohol....brayering....etc. until you're satisfied.

The final lettering was done with a Leonardt Principal nib and Winsor Newton Bleedproof White gouache. The only caution I would give in creating this type of collage / assemblage is to keep the main thing the main thing and don't add anything that is "cutesy craftsy" and don't add too many things. Simplicity is the hallmark of elegance and subtlety.

Hopefully, you have seen another way to create a piece with handmade paper inclusions. One last pointer...papers are a definite part of the book arts. So think of inclusions that go along with that category. You could include a small antique book...part of a book cover...marbled paper...wax seals...an old pen...text pages...etc. Keep it simple and get ideas for dividing your space by observing well done pieces that are elegant. If handmade papers are treated as an elegant inclusion, more than likely, it will be "gallery worthy". And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"En Mi Corazon" (draft 2)

(image 1)

(image 2)

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119: 11) The title of the piece in English is...."In My Heart". Of course I love to write it in Spanish and you can actually see it vaguely written with a pointed brush at the bottom of the piece. You can also see that I have now cropped the piece to an 8" x 8".

It will be presented in a frame with a balsa wood spacer to allow room for the dimensional inclusion of rolled up papers. In fact, all pieces that include handmade papers will look better if there is a spacer in the frame. It is a much better plan than picking out a shadow box that has a 2" depth. This type of presentation is very subtle and allows for a piece that is in between mixed media, collage, and an assemblage.

Since yesterday, I have added in this order....the brush lettering...a thin layer of white gesso...brayering after alcohol was sprayed on the surface....and then an application of dark purple pastel, brown pastel, and black charcoal powder. I also placed the frame around the piece to make sure I had enough brown tones that would also be picked up in the frame.

All of this was then sprayed with spray acrylic coating (2x). I then rolled up some text from the Psalms taken from a very small bible. I then found a piece of interesting yarn in an ecru color and wrapped that around the rolled up text pages. The papers are held in place with a liberal amount of gel matte medium.

The next steps are important so as not to paint yourself into a corner. The handmade paper has not been adhered to the support or the whole piece to a gessobord panel. So today I will be removing the handmade paper and adhering the piece to my panel and weighting it down with wax paper, book, and a rock for the remainder of the day.

I will then prepare the piece to receive lettering and after writing the text, I will spray it again with spray acrylic coating (3x)....drying thoroughly in between. I will finish with one coat of Golden Spray Varnish...dry thoroughly and then attach the handmade paper and allow it to dry overnight.  It will then be ready to go in the frame.  And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Psalm 100" (draft 5)

(draft 5.....18" x 24")

Psalm 100 is back with a new layer. The focal area has been brought back up in value so the Spanish lettering is now visible, but still understated. I also added some more gestural writing with pencil and brush lettering. The other addition is a two layer collage of kiln formed glass. The versals will be added today.

As you can see from all of the postings of this piece that it has been quite the journey! I began the new layer by scrubbing some of the diluted gesso wash over the focal area with a stiff brush and rubbing alcohol and wiping with a kleenex. This technique is very useful in creating depth and adding to the patina. (Of course, if you scrub for too long, the alcohol will eventually get to the Spanish lettering and remove that as well.)

After bringing back some of the values, I sprayed the piece (2x) with acrylic spray coating....drying thoroughly with a hair dryer. I then prepared the surface to receive another layer by brushing on  (2) parts water + (1) part gel matte medium and applying (3) coats of that to the entire surface.

While I was waiting on my glass to get cool enough to take out of the kiln, I practiced brush lettering for about an hour and then added "the psalms" to the piece with gouache (prussian blue + white + a tiny bit of raw sienna.) Of course it was a bit too hard edged to suit me so I blotted the brush lettering with a damp kleenex until I achieved some softer edges and less intense color.  All of that was dried thoroughly and then the entire piece was sprayed (2x) with spray acrylic coating again....followed by preparing the surface to receive the next layer.

I then retrieved my glass from the kiln and placed it into position on top of my piece and then photographed it several times. What you see today is that photograph. The glass has not been permanently fixed to the support yet.

I have also been practicing this psalm in roman versals and I know it will be freely written and flowing from the last portion of the Spanish lettering and over the brush lettering in black ink. Hopefully, you can now see how involved layering in mixed media can be. Not all pieces are quite this complicated, but I am confident that after it gets mounted on a clayboard with all the lettering done and the glass in place, that it will be most of what I hoped for in the beginning. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Bless the Lord" (final)

($150.00....6" x 12".....Mixed Media and Kiln Formed Glass ......Mounted on a 2" Depth Clayboard)

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name." (Psalm 103:1...NIV) As you can see, I have finished the piece and made significant changes since yesterday. I am satisfied with the outcome and thank you for sharing in my process.

Since yesterday, I made some value adjustments by adding more plain rice papers...covering up some more of the background text which included some of the brush lettering I did yesterday. I also made use of soft pastels to help integrate the values and create a very neutral background that complements the glass inclusion and provides the perfect background for my expressive lettering.

The soft pastels I chose were Sennelier sticks in a brighter turquoise and a "dirty" gray color. You can see how that gray color integrates the old text pages with the plain rice papers to create an overall "aged" look. I was extremely careful not to cover up key areas that were the perfect translucency and to leave some of the original text which was adhered to the support in the first layer.

The rule of thumb is to always have some of the previous layer showing throughout the piece. Slowing down the process and being careful about which areas to conceal and which ones to reveal is crucial to achieving the rich and deeply textured background. It all adds depth and interest and can never be achieved without layering.

And when you think about it, most art requires layering. To think that one layer of anything will achieve the best result is a serious error. As for the lettering, this was freely written with a Leonardt Principal Nib and Moon Palace Ink. Even though I took great liberties with the form and spacing, there is a very strong Spencerian Script influence in the form of the letters and especially the exit stroke. I chose this style of lettering to mesh with the idea of the sentiment of the verse in "freely blessing the Lord".

I hope that by going back and looking at the (4) drafts, you can see the importance of layering and how to achieve an enriched surface. The last steps are to adhere the support to the 2" depth clayboard (minus the glass) with gel matte medium and then weight it down with wax paper, followed by a book, and ending up with a rock. Let it dry overnight. Spray again with spray acrylic coating several times. Let it dry for (24) hours. Place the screw eyes and wire on the piece. Finish off the sides with black gesso followed by (1) coat of black acrylic. Spray with Golden Spray Acrylic Varnish (2x). Let dry for a few hours. Adhere glass to the finished piece with E6000 and do not touch or move for (24) hours. (It will break the seal if you do.) And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Psalm 103:1" (draft 4)

I only thought I would be posting the final today. On viewing the piece this morning and also viewing several times during the day yesterday, I realized I would like to push the layering a bit further. The title has also changed slightly to Psalm 103:1...since it is a very long Psalm.

My desire is to improve my skill level in layering letters and incorporating more brush lettering. Brush lettering is very expressive and compelling. This morning I spent 1.50 hours practicing and finally writing a few words on the piece.

One of the best brushes to use for brush lettering is a Pentel Pointed brush that comes with cartridges. I never use the cartridges for fine art pieces since they will fade. After removing the cartridge, I cleaned the brush thoroughly of the cartridge ink and then mixed up some gouache on a paper plate with a palette knife and then dipped the brush in a bit of water and "paletted" the brush in the gouache on the paper plate. The surface of the piece had already been prepared for lettering by brushing on a mixture of (2) parts water to (1) part gel matte medium. I generally apply (3) layers...drying thoroughly in between. This is the same process you would use to apply stamped imagery, graphite, etc. The surface will simply not receive other media because it is too slick from the spray acrylic coating applied to secure the previous layer.

I have already sprayed this surface again with spray acrylic coating. So after I have decided on the finaly lettering placement...I will need to brush on the dilute gel matte medium again to prepare the surface for writing. As of right now, I am strongly considering adding some more plain rice papers and possibly a bit more charcoal pencil sparingly before doing the final lettering. It is all about values and choosing what to conceal and reveal.

When layering lettering or other line work, it is necessary to carefully consider the values of the background letters or line work. The final lettering will be either dark gray or black and will integrate well with the darks of the glass and the slivers of black showing from the base support. For that reason, I did blot my brush lettering with a kleenex dipped in water and squeezed out to push that lettering into the background further.

So you can see that the process really slows down towards the end and more time is needed to process design decisions. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Alive and Active" (Final)

($125.00......6" x 12".....Mixed Media on 300 lb. HP....Mounted on a 2" Depth Clayboard)

"Words become alive and active when they take root in the heart." This quote was inspired by Psalm 119 and I chose the placement of the lettering to be in the interior of the piece and readable but not dominating the piece. This offers up a comparison with the heart being a small organ located in the interior of our being. On the other hand, all of the gestural marks and lettering visually describe words as being alive and active by the nature of their movement.

I am in a week long glass fusing class with the discussion and projects all centering around abstraction and design. The class had a rather open discussion yesterday about how often an artist creates their original concept to come out exactly as they envisioned it to be. The answer was never. 

Artists can invite disaster by expecting or trying to get their work to fit into a preconceived mold. It simply doesn't work that way. Having a general plan or concept is very wise, but the piece yields surprises as it moves along. And it's those surprises that give it the energy it needs to be successful and appreciated by the viewer.

It's really all about making design decisions along the way. More often than not, each piece gives you a bit more experience and informs the decisions for the next piece and the one after that....etc. So it is best to study your own work and see where you are with your habitual marks, textures, colors, etc. and then build upon that. It is impossible to begin your process where some other artist left off. You can only start a new piece where your last one left off.

For instance, I knew that a grid format created in an erratic fashion would create a visual punch. I also knew that silver leaf looks fantastic with black, text pages, and rice papers. I knew all of that because of my past pieces. However, I had no idea where the text would end up and this is the first time I have used pointed brush lettering and burnt sienna in this mix of elements. 

So now I have another piece under my belt and I know a bit more and I hope you have learned a bit more by observing my process. In the next few days I will be posting some of the work I am creating in the glass fusing class. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Alive and Active" (Draft 3)

(unavailable)

"Words become alive and active when they take root in the heart." The quote is now becoming a part of the piece with the word "active" written in  pencil and pointed brush lettering. Tomorrow I will be posting the final.

After posting yesterday, I did crop this piece to its final size of 6" x 12". The paper is 300 lb. HP but I have yet to adhere it to a 2" depth clayboard. This is the beauty of working on paper or canvas that is larger than the final cropping and before it is adhered to a board or placed in a frame. (The lettering is much more difficult to achieve on a board 2" off of the table.)

In addition to cropping the piece, I also added some more pain rice papers to cover up more of the black gesso in the background. By doing this and by mounting the initial metal leaf and papers in a very erratic grid format, I now have some energetic black lines that give some definite shapes and structure to the piece.

After adhering more plain rice papers, I sprayed the entire piece with stray acrylic coating and left it to dry overnight. This morning I prepared the surface for lettering with (2) parts water to (1) part gel matte medium with hair dryer in left hand and brush in the other hand. Three coats were applied and dried thoroughly with a hair dryer.

The last thing today was some gestural writing with a pencil and then a pointed brush. It was an empty Pentel brush using burnt sienna and bit of gray gouache. Initially, it was too prominent, so I dipped a paper towel in water, squeezed out the excess and blotted the lettering to make it look aged and lighten the value. By choosing the burnt sienna, I have created an echo with the aged papers. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Shepherd" (Final)

($150.00......10" x 10".....Mixed Media.....Mounted on a 2" Depth Clayboard)

"Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need." (Psalm 23:1...Living Translation) As you can clearly see, many things have changed since yesterday. After writing "Shepherd" boldly in the background, the unfolding thought was to change the title and do only the first verse using a contemporary interpretation.

It has been a very long morning. I wrote this verse in gestural writing first...had some second thoughts so I sent the image to a friend and she confirmed what I was feeling, even though it didn't seem to line up with my conventional wisdom about edges and lines. 

So without further ado, I washed the lettering off and proceeded to deal with small, understated Versals. I do like it now and I believe the word "shepherd" written in white now remains the focal point. And this goes to the heart of layering and why I hope it has been instructive to see the actual steps. The best outcomes happen when you go with whatever evolves as you proceed with some of your original concept.

It is very important to allow it to morph into what it wants to be. Mental concepts tend to be stubborn and pesky little things that want their own way come "hell or high water". The only problem with that type of thinking is that it is like fitting a square peg in a round hole. Your piece will look contrived and overworked and end up on an ash heap.

The best thing to do is simply to relax and let it flow. Consult a friend. Pray and meditate. Walk away from it for awhile. Come back later and it will magically fall into place. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Psalm 23" (Draft 2)

(unavailable)

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1) In a more contemporary translation, this same verse reads..."Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need." This is a very assuring and calming truth from scripture. 

The word Shepherd has become the focal point of the piece. The final size of this piece has become a 10" x 10". Squares are good because the orientation can go either horizontally, vertically, or both. Since yesterday, I have created horizontal bands to contrast with the vertical bands. The same alternation technique was used and condensed, but by making them shorter and having them go through the upper center of the piece, they lay the foundation for the layering of other horizontal bands.

After adhering these shorter and more narrow strips, I then adhered some plain rice paper in varying heights and widths across the first layer of horizontal banding. Since the first layer of lettering is peeking through in various places, I decided to add a bit more of text on top of the plain rice paper, creating another layer. However, I did not like a solid mass of text, so after adhering them to the support, I deconstructed by slipping a palette knife underneath each piece and literally ripping it off. It now looks more subtle. 

I left all of this to dry overnight and then prepared the surface for lettering this morning with (2) parts water to (1) part gel matte medium and brushed app. (5) coats of this over the entire surface by holding a hair dryer in my left hand and brushing with my right hand. (The heat is necessary to cause the medium to adhere to a slick surface.)   I then practiced my brush lettering several times and then wrote with White Bleedproof White Gouache (WN brand) over my horizontal band of tone on tone. Using white on white creates an ethereal look and can still be seen without conflicting with the lettering that will be added today. 

At the moment I am contemplating white versals, but that could change during the course of the day. The great news is that it is easily wiped off of this surface should I change my mind. I have made a new rule for myself. I no longer write on surfaces I can't correct! And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Words"

(unavailable....6" x 6" Experimental Piece....Mounted on a Gessobord)

"Words form thoughts and habits." Words are very powerful things and I was excited to make them the centerpiece of my first foray into brush lettering. The brush is very expressive and the only regret that I have is that I didn't take it to heart much earlier in life.

This is a simple mixed media piece with mono printed rice paper mounted on a gessobord as the support. These small presentations can be framed or placed on an easel. They can also be mounted with other 6" x 6" pieces on a larger clayboard with a 2" depth. It makes a stunning display...especially if you have been working in a series. This is food for thought for any of you who are involved with The Open Doors Gallery at Hill Country Bible Church since our fall theme is "Poetic Collections". This would be one way to show a collection.

After the initial mono printed papers were adhered to the board, old text pages and plain rice paper were also added...especially where the lettering was to be placed. There is also a bit of deconstruction going on with more snippets of text placed around two edges.

Black and white is always a good choice, especially if you introduce several different textures. The first mono printed rice papers are actually (3) cropped sections of larger pieces. The energy of the line work in the mono print adds energy to any piece. 

After all the pieces were adhered to the support and sprayed with Acrylic Coating, I left it to dry overnight....(always a good idea with rice papers). This morning I prepared the surface for lettering with (2) parts water and (1) part Gel Matte Medium and (3) applications using a hair dryer and brushing on the medium at the same time. It is necessary to have the heat to cause the medium to attach to the surface since the acrylic coating is a slick surface. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Step by Step" (unavailable)

(unavailable)

"Step by step and line upon line lays the foundation for growth." It is so natural to want to speed through the steps of learning and be automatically at the finish line. I have noticed that even though everyone knows that you must take one step at a step, there is still that hope that it isn't so and that one of us might be the exception. Even people with seemingly natural ability must go through the steps.

This is my first photography piece where acrylic paint has been one of the layers. I like the idea of covering up extraneous detail with paint to cause the viewer to focus on the main attraction. There were trees and flowers at the top and to the sides of those stairs so I simply used the same colors and painted over them starting with the green first and then the pink over that. It also helped to soften the edges with a clean sponge brush dipped in water and then blotting with kleenex.

Other layers included erratic pencil lines and lettering...brush lettering with dilute prussian blue...monoprinting with Caran d'Ache ink...and gesso plus a water brush to remove the excess.

So if you have nothing to do this afternoon, you might want to try or think about these things.