"Mi Camino" (draft 1)

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119: 105...NIV) There will be only one draft of this piece. The final will be posted tomorrow with white lettering added.

If you are just now getting into mixed media, please know that this is one of the simplest formats you can use. It is a cruciform format which means that the piece is divided (with an image) from edge to edge...both horizontally and vertically. Indeed I have been stuck on yellow green so here it is in another version.

I stamped the overall pattern over a previously printed color with a stamp that had a fair amount of thick lines. (This does not work well with thin lines.) After drying and spraying this sheet with spray acrylic coating, I dried it again thoroughly and laid it on my clayboard. After positioning the piece, I flipped it over on a cutting board and cut the paper the size of the board (or support). It was then adhered to the board with gel matte medium...followed by placing a sheet of wax paper over it and brayering with a clean brayer. Dry again with a hair dryer.

The black mono printed papers are comprised of three different textures. By choosing black papers that had a completely organic and uneven texture, I established a strong contrast. The black is the unifying factor or common denominator.

You can achieve the "blotchy" application of black  by printing a good print of your choosing, but instead of cleaning off the printing surface, spray with water, and move the paint around by brayering through in different directions.  That action causes the paint to pool in an irregular fashion.

After adhering these papers, drying, and spraying with acrylic coating again, the papers became translucent where the ink was thin and you can see some of the previous layer. You can also see how a bit of gestural mark making or writing adds energy to the piece. (That was created by writing in the ink before printing.)

I will be writing the verse in English and Spanish, using WN Bleedproof White Gouache. If I were not including hand lettering, I would probably print some of the back ground imagery over a portion of the black papers in white Speedball Printing Ink...perhaps over the width of the vertical papers only. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"A Gift"

($150.00....12" x 12" Experimental Piece....Water Soluble Oils on 300 lb. HP ...Mounted on a 1.50" depth Clayboard)

"Every day is a gift." It's short, it's sweet, and it's true. Enjoy each day and count it a blessing!

This is another gestural landscape, but this one is based on a reference photo taken from the second story porch of our house. Since I have been painting these types of landscapes, I have been noticing the sky a lot...like every day and even pulling off of the road to take pictures. It is utterly amazing how quickly the sky changes and how it reminds us of the expansiveness of the universe.

It is also a very natural and obvious way of learning how to divide your space. You can have the sky taking up most of the space or flip it and have the land taking up the space. Either way and all the ways in between are good lessons in space division. 

There are other ways to divide your space that every artist should be familiar with...especially if you're working in mixed media. The cruciform is the most versatile. It is nothing more than dividing the space into four quadrants. It amounts to touching the edges vertically and horizontally and unequally. In other words, you could have the vertical division line to the far left or far right and the horizontal division either very low or very high. Playing around with this format will give you all kinds of possibilities.

Whenever you find yourself in a confused and unorganized design space, thinking in terms of a particular format will go a long way in helping you out of your confusion. So just think about it. You could paint four unequal quadrants a different color if working with a cruciform format or you could have unequal horizontal bands (as in a landscape.) These are just two exciting formats that will give you a lot of mileage. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Texas Star" (unavailable)

(unavailable....in the permanent collection of dee day)

"Everyone who lives in Texas is a star." From time to time my Texas pride overtakes me. This piece seemed to just evolve and finally there appeared a Texas star. Cowhides and Texas stars are the core of my decorating style. I do believe we have a Texas star in every room in the house. That's just the way it is here in our fine state!

One of my favorite formats is to divide the space into (4) unequal quadrants. It is often called a cruciform format. It is a simple way to design your piece without too much fuss and it works every time it's tried.

For those of you who were in the color workshop, you might recognize the presence of pouring medium. The only difference in the look here is that I worked a bit "wetter" which created some strong blocks of color and lots of movement. If you don't know what to do with some of the pieces you created, you might want to consider collage. By limiting your collage to just a few strategic pieces, you can create a very cohesive piece.

Remember to think about the corners. Having something different going on in each corner creates interest and keeps the viewer engaged in your piece. Also, keep the main thing the main thing. Going off into too many different directions leads to chaos, especially with collage.  Do have fun and let the creativity flow. Just something to try or think about.