"Paz" (draft 4)

(draft 4)

"The Lord will give unyielding and impenetrable strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace." (Psalm 29:11..Amplified) As you can see, I am still working on lettering. I thought about waiting until I was completely done, but decided it might be instructive to see the white charcoal pencil layout before it was all inked in.

Because of the value of the background, I chose white bleedproof gouache for the lettering. It echoes the value of the silver leaf and provides a readable, ethereal look to the text.

In order to write with a charcoal pencil on this type of surface, it is necessary to sharpen frequently...sharpen even more on a sandpaper block...and hold the pencil completely vertical. The nice thing about charcoal is the fact that it is easy to erase after all is finished.

The process has slowed down tremendously with the lettering so it will probably take me another day or two. It always pay off in the end because the scripture that speaks to the scribe will more than likely speak to many others.

I am actually writing the First Century Versals with a pointed pen (in case my lettering friends want to know) and then I plan to write the verse in Spanish and Spencerian Script. And there you have it, just a few more things to think about.

"Paz" (draft 2)

(draft 2)

You are viewing the deconstructed fiber piece laid over the support which is a 16" x 20" canvas. There is also some silver leaf behind the fiber peeking through. The final will contain the text from Psalm 29: 11.

Today, I will set this piece on an easel where I can see it from across the room. It also looks good in a horizontal format and viewing it from a distance will determine that decision. There is also silver leaf that has yet to be adhered, and my decision now is whether to tear the fiber a bit more and have some silver showing around the edges as well.

Since yesterday, I applied Super Heavy Gesso with a palette knife. The same chevron stamp was used, but I applied a thin layer of the gesso so you don't see a solid imprint of the stamp. Another little trick about stamping into this type of "gooey" texture is to spray the stamp with cooking oil with each stamping. This keeps it from pulling the gesso up and creating an ugly texture. Once it's dry, alcohol will remove the cooking oil and then you can proceed to paint. This also works if you want to imbed a texture like a "key" just to get the imprint into the medium. Once the medium is dry, the key or other object can be removed. Clean the surface and paint.

Another tip if you want the first layer of black gesso to show when lightly sanding the final top layer of paint is to mix the black gesso into the Super Heavy Gesso before applying to the support. You will then see nothing but black when sanding the top layer to reveal some of the texture.

Again, I made a sample of this fiber with the color mixtures to go into my journal.  The color vibration is particularly appealing to me and I know I will need to jog my memory by looking over my notes should I ever want to do this in a different format.  And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Paz" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

The Spanish word for peace is "paz". The quote you will see in the final is from Psalm 29:11. There is nothing quite like soothing blue colors to capture the spirit of "peace".

The previous couple of postings with a tighter weave (muslim) did not yield great results. That piece of fiber is now in the garbage and I returned to my lightweight linen type fiber with a looser weave. And for those who say..."You could have saved it; why did you throw it in the trash?"....that is not always true.

To create these very textural kinds of looks by deconstructing fiber, it is very important to have a fiber that is deconstructable. Otherwise, you can "beat a dead horse", but it will not be revived. It's dead!

So I began this piece with black gesso on one side and allowed it to dry thoroughly over the weekend. This morning I sanded it, and the deconstruction yielded some nice frayed areas and a few holes. And that is excellent, because I plan to adhere silver leaf to the area of the support where this will be placed and that silver will come shining through.

The next step was to spray the fiber with Palette Wetting Spray (Liquitex). The spray is different than simply spraying water because it consists of a polymer emulsion that is designed to keep the acrylic paint wet for a longer period of time, but it also helps blending and moving the paint around. (I have found that "chip brushes" are the very best brush for applying fluid acrylics to fiber.)

The mixture used for this base color was Cobalt Blue, a bit of Raw Umber, and a lot of White. (Fluid Acrylics) This dilute color causes a color vibration with the more intense colors stamped over this background. Cobalt Blue (straight from the bottle) and Cobalt Turquoise + White are the colors of the chevron pattern. (Color was brushed onto the stamped with a chip brush.)

And just in case you haven't noticed, chevron patterns are the rage right now. So let me take this opportunity to give a "shout out" for my daughter Alice, who is creating some fabulous wrist bags and tote bags, and also makes custom t-shirt quilts.

Check out her products at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChevronBagsUnlimited. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Fiber Preparation" (draft 1)

Today's posting is a "process piece" in preparation for a 16" x 20" canvas. I know from my own experience that it is instructive to see some of the very first steps in a process. It doesn't look like much today, but by tomorrow it will have full blown color. Never despise small beginnings...just keep going. 

My desire at this point is to move away from too much uniformity with horizontal bands. So in this piece I am shaking it up a bit by having random patterning and color. This is also a tight weave and lightweight muslim. I brushed black gesso on one side followed by drying it with a hair dryer and then sanding. To give it more stability, I repeated the process on the back side.

And then I began to ask the "What if..." question which led me to swiping some Super Heavy Gesso on a portion of the fiber. If you look closely, you will see a chevron pattern stamped into the gesso. The gesso is receiving the stamping in different ways depending on the thickness of the gesso. By tomorrow morning all of this will be "bone dry" and ready to paint. There will be a marked contrast in the way the fiber without the gesso and the fiber with the gesso receives the paint. 

In the meantime, I am continuing work on two other large works. It takes many days for layers of paint to dry and prepare the fiber. And that is the beauty of working on more than one piece at once. While one thing is drying, you simply go to one of the other pieces. 

My large journal will now have another addition (with notes) after I finish the piece of fiber you see today. And then I will switch to the actual piece, select the text, allow for drying time, and post the process as it goes along. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Work It Out" (3) (Process Piece)

It is quite amazing how much preliminary work has to happen in order to create a large piece. Today's piece is my color selection for a 30" x 40" which will eventually have this type of fiber treatment included. Text will be from the Bible, but I haven't made the final decision.

Today's process piece tells me several things. Do I want to paint the back of it with black gesso and take a chance of too much of that black color seeping through the fiber? Probably not, so I will need to be selective in where the black gesso is placed or do it before the exposed portion is completed.

Another important thing I was wanting to test was lettering done with fluid acrylic and an #6 Automatic Pen. It holds a lot of pigment and the writing is done on the corner much like a ruling pen. I did find out that the fiber has to be sealed on the back and prepared for lettering on the front.

The other techniques on this piece were created by writing into the dull brown color with a mop brush dipped into the yellow green color. I then cook a commercial stamp and dipped one end of it into the paint and stamped onto the background. These are textures that are now recorded and will go into my large journal as a reference.

My hope is that I've convinced others who like to do experimental work the efficiency of making notes. Another favorite way of notating "work off" pieces is to cut up some watercolor paper into a small size (i.e. 4" x 4")...glue the sample on the paper....punch a hole in the corner and place on a binder ring. It takes up very little space and provides a ready reference for all of your future pieces. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Work It Out (2)" (Process Piece)

Today's posting is another "process piece" that will continue to inform my decisions about larger works on canvas. Experimenting, making notes, and keeping "process" journals is part of the journey in creating a piece of art.

Yesterday afternoon, I tore off a good size section of fiber and covered it with black gesso. (I laid it on wax paper to keep it from sticking to a surface.)  It took a while to dry, but by evening I applied some Fluid Acrylic in a dull brown color with a "chip brush". (They are the best kind for applying paint to this type of surface.)

While the paint was still wet, I dipped a large "mop brush" into a raw sienna mixture of Fluid Acrylic and lettered directly into the wet paint. Brush lettering '"wet into wet creates a more subtle edge. I then dropped down to the bottom area and wrote with the same brush on dry and primed fiber.

You can also see an area in the middle of a stripe painted with the same brush. While the paint was still wet, I stamped into it with a commercial stamp for a bit more texture. You can see the difference in the stamping by how much paint was on the fiber in different areas.

The last thing I did was write with Bleedproof White Gouache with a pointed brush (WN Sceptre Series) followed by a few words with a pointed pen. It will obviously need to go much larger, but I am leaning towards the pen which gives a crisper finish.

I now have two fabric swatches to add to my large journal book. This will become a ready reference for techniques on fiber. It is wise to make notes on your swatches or cut them down and glue them into a journal and make notes on the journal page. "Process is the breath of creativity." And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Work It Out" (Process Piece)

The text for a large piece I'm working on is from Proverbs. The particular verses have not been decided yet, but today's posting is a "work off" piece created on the same fiber as in the larger work. You're just getting a glimpse at how I work things out. It's similar to rehearsing for a performance.

My goal in creating several "work off" pieces is to see how different instruments of writing and mediums respond to the surface on a 24" x 30" canvas that is ready for lettering. There were several others, but the one you see today is the one that informs me as to how the surface must be prepared to receive gouache and a new medium I'm experimenting with....enamel paint.  (Rust-Oleum from Home Depot)

So the first bit of information that I gleaned from this morning's work is that the back of the fiber must be painted with black gesso. The fiber side where the lettering goes must be prepared with at least (2) coats of (2 parts water to 1 part gel matte medium). If these steps are not taken the gouache bleeds a bit and the enamel paint bleeds a lot. The enamel paint (in black) that you see today was written by dipping a mop brush into the paint and writing by allowing it to drip. It is the perfect medium for this surface to create some expressive lettering.

I also used a ruling pen (the white larger lettering in Spanish) with limited success. On the next "work off" piece, I will be doing some brush lettering loaded with gouache. I also know from yesterday's posting that the Speedball C series works very well on this surface.

And this is the way pieces are put together...especially when they're experimental. The studio then becomes a laboratory to see what works and what doesn't. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Bienvenidos" (final)

($125.00....6" x 12".....Mixed Media on a 2" Depth Cradled Gessobord)

"Cowhide is the welcome mat of Texas." And all of the native Texans out there said...."Amen!"

I hope this process has shown the contrasts that are available by using very shiny acrylic and very textured fiber pieces. If you would like to experiment with fiber, I would suggest a lightweight muslim or something with a slight open weave in neutral/solid color. I have tried heavier fabrics and they are not as easy to manipulate and sand as the lighter weight. I personally gravitate towards a thin muslin fiber. Once the paint gets applied, it becomes stiff, but is very easy to deconstruct using a palm sander.

Another thought about Fluid Acrylics. It is expensive, but it is highly pigmented and brushes on in a thin, but even coat. And even though it takes (3-4) coats, it is quite smooth. This smoother look is very difficult to achieve by thinning down Heavy Body Acrylics. So the combination I have found to be really cool is to texturize Super Heavy Gesso by spreading it on with a palette knife and then laying different textures into it or scribbling into it with a bamboo pen. The Fluid Acrylic adheres to the gesso quite nicely, creating a very glossy and textured surface that is created in the gesso.

Experimentation is very important, even if it does not yield a successful piece. What it does yield is information on mark making, materials, process, and how to develop a strategy for a larger work. So the piece you see today has helped me work out the "kinks" for something that will be a 30" x 40" size. Doing it small first saves me a lot of time. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Bienvenidos (draft 2)

Things have calmed down since yesterday with a few less stripes and dominant color. A line of "scripty" lettering will take the eye right to the fiber. I am also planning to change the title to "Bienvenidos". The quote will be on the piece by tomorrow.

As you can see, I added another piece of fiber and painted out a few stripes with black gesso followed by black fluid acrylic. It is important to paint over the black gesso with acrylic to have the high gloss contrasting with the fiber.

The existing stripes were taped off with painter's tape and painted with two coats of fluid acrylic. When that dried thoroughly, I hand sanded (with very rough sand paper) those stripes to reveal some of the texture from the first layer that was inscribed into the Super Heavy Gesso. This particular gesso is a Liquitex product. It is expensive, but I found some at Hobby Lobby. I like the feel, the texture, and the way it receives the paint. It is also very sandable without the "rubbery" texture of some texture mediums.

The fiber has yet to be adhered until I finish the lettering. I will be preparing the surface the same way I do for paper by brushing on (2 parts water) to (1 part gel matte medium). And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Bienvenidos" (draft 1)

Today's posting is in a very rough state, but I thought it would be good to show it anyway and see how I resolve some of the chaos. I also plan to have a one line Texas quote harkening back to my roots.

I began with Super Heavy Gesso which I applied last night so it would be dry by morning. It was texturized by placing a strip of a mesh grid into the gesso and then lifting it out. After that, I wrote into the gesso with a bamboo pen really fast and not caring whether it was readable. It is simply there for texture. (It is important to apply the gesso with a palette knife as thin as possible to do this type of texturing.)

The small stripes might be gone by tomorrow or at least two rows at top and bottom close to the fiber. I would like to keep a few rows because of the texture created by the writing. And if you like that effect, it is important to paint the dried gesso with black gesso. After it dries, use fluid acrylic, but with very little paint on the brush and held at a low angle so that the paint skims over the sgraffito type lettering.

There will also be a bit more sanding after the paint dries on the fiber piece. This is an important piece because I am using this technique on my 30" x 40" canvas. I already know that I will need to have a hugh contrast of size between the bands of color based on what I've done so far. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Su Camino" (final)

($180.00......12" x 12"....Mixed Media on Stretched Canvas)

"Wait for the Lord and keep his way." (Psalm 37: 34 NIV) The Spanish Gothic and Spencerian Script combination remind me of lettering on signage and labels in Mexico. This is also one of my favorite chapters from the Psalms.

The only thing left to do now is spray the fiber piece with acrylic coating (3x) followed by (3) coats of spray varnish and then (2) coats of brush on varnish. All of this requires drying time, but I have plenty to do since I just created the same background texture on a 30" x 40" canvas. However, it will be a different color.

One of the looks I particularly like is the high gloss of acrylic paint that has also been textured like the background of this piece. It has the look of rusty metal. So sandpaper and sanders are definitely a part of my studio equipment.

If you like this background, all you need for experimentation is a canvas or clayboard.... heavy gesso or molding paste that has been texturized...some black gesso....fluid acrylic...and sandpaper. Finish it off with acrylic coating and varnish and you will have a metal look.

The only other thing that might be noteworthy is the fact that there are actual holes in the fiber as well as some of the background color which create total integration between the background and fiber. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Corazon" (final)

($60.00......6" x 6".....Mixed Media on 2" Depth Cradled Board)

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." (Proverbs 4: 23...NIV) One of the key words in this piece is "wellspring". A wellspring is a source or supply of anything, especially when considered inexhaustible. So whatever is flowing in our hearts (the seat of our thinking and emotions) is very important and charts the course of our lives.

So as far as the look and mood of the piece, I feel satisfied that I accomplished what I set out to do. My desire was to have an extreme contrast between textures which also results in a contrast of new vs. old. By using Fluid Acrylics (3 layers over black gesso), I was able to achieve a high gloss and very smooth color application to the background. It comes across as very contemporary and gives me the vehicle for going into my colorist voice.

The deconstruction of the fiber by painting, sanding, painting, sanding, etc. until it is aged to perfection (to the point of making holes in the fiber) goes to the heart of my artistic voice. That's why antique stores hold such a hugh appeal and this is an aging technique that is worth its weight in gold. You can see the red background peeking through the holes and stray threads veering off from the edges.

To set up a sanding station, I laid the fiber on a large section of MDF board. The fiber is much easier to sand after some paint has been applied to make it stiff. You then must hold the fiber with your left hand by spreading out your hand and sanding in the "taunt" area and this is especially true when going close to the edge. It also helps to have a variable speed palm sander and use medium to course grit sand paper. It takes a lot of grit to deconstruct fibers.

After all of the sanding was done, I turned the piece over and painted with black fluid acrylic and that's why you see the holes and threadbare areas a dark black. It also seeped to the edges in some places.

All in all, it is a very creative alliance with high gloss and dull, threadbare, and aged fiber. This piece is on a cradled board, but the large works are on canvas which gives a range of other options such as stitching the fiber on with several strands of embroidery thread followed by gesso and paint. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"South Texas Vibe" (first draft)

I haven't written the quote yet, but it will probably be spiritual in nature and I am thinking 1st century versals in black on the fiber piece. This posting is a small microcosm of what is happening in my studio on a much larger scale on canvas.

The inspiration comes straight from South Texas and the Hispanic culture. Call me a "valley girl".....or at least from the Rio Grande Valley in the southern tip of Texas. The tropical climate, along with the Hispanic culture is feeding right into my art journey. It doesn't take long after living there, to realize that the Hispanics do love bright color and also striped sarapes, rugs, and bright and colorful pottery.

My direction for the large scale works is to show the extreme contrast between the aged fiber art, peeling paint on pots, walls, and fragments from tiles......and the bright and shiny colors that are interspersed among all of this. It is completely natural for me to go in this direction and now I am embracing it with all my heart.

The techniques involved in aging something, whether it's fiber or paper is effectively done with a sander. (variable speed is useful) So you can see that there is a huge contrast between texture, color intensity, and erratic edges vs. smooth edges. And the larger the piece, the more these contrasts create a dramatic effect.

So I'm having great fun in this return to my past and the nostalgia of all that is in South Texas. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Essential Ingredients" (final)

($420.00.....cropped portion of ...18" x 24".......Mixed Media on Canvas with a 2"00 depth)

"Essential ingredients create growth." The key word in this quote is "essential". There are essential steps or ingredients that must be present to have growth. This was a piece created for the 30th Anniversary of Capital City Scribes. This organization has definitely been an essential ingredient for my growth in the lettering arts.

I don't often create a piece with quite this much texture, but this particular design element was my passion for this piece. What you saw in the previous posting was burlap fabric primed with gesso. It's hard to capture the richness of the texture in a photo or the richness of the color. My inspiration was a picture of an interior room with a view of the forest outside. The colors in the piece represent most of the color notes in the photograph.

One of the problems of creating a piece with horizontal (or vertical) bands is the straight and hard edges. For that reason, I took the bands of color that have "splotches" of paint outside and sanded between layers and ended up slinging paint onto these strips and adding water to some of the edges to give some vertical and erratic lines with some diffused edges. The dark green in the burlap carried over into this slinging process also creates an "echo" of that color.

Even though I like vertical and horizontal bands, I am now ready to do a piece where the fabric is placed very randomly and without a precise shape or pattern. By the time I finished this piece, I was feeling a bit confined. Never the less, I am glad I followed my vision because it will definitely inform the next piece I create with fabric collage on canvas.

The last element added was the kiln formed glass elements in the openings of the burlap. It does add a lot of reflective quality to the piece and I am glad I tried it, but today, my inner creative voice is screaming for asymmetrical. And so shall it be.....in the very next piece. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Essential Ingredients" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

This is the beginning of a highly textured piece. Today's draft is only one part of a horizontal band of fibers adhered to canvas. The entire piece is created with bands of texture and color. The white you see today ends up becoming a very dark green with the bright green showing through.

The particular fiber you see today is a very loose weave of burlap with some of the threads removed and coated with gesso on both sides. A format of horizontal bands is an excellent way to showcase color and texture. It is best, of course, to have the bands in different widths and different textures and colors. This automatically opens the door to alternating the bands.

In addition to three different bands of this particular fiber, I am also including duck cloth which has also been coated with gesso on both sides. It is risky to add fiber to a canvas without it first being washed and dried or coated with gesso first. Adhering it before taking these steps can leave some puckering. This is unlikely to happen on a cradled board, but I have not tried that, but other artists have with success.

Basically, anything can be gessoed and adhered to a support to create texture. It is probably a good idea to keep the main thing, the main thing rather than adhering anything and everything in a haphazard fashion. Another option is to adhere fibers on select areas of the canvas to create some texture with a majority of the design space left free of too much detail. It's all a process. Look at rugs and quilt designs for inspiration images.

Going in this direction clearly places the artist in the "colorist" camp which can be a great place to land since color is the most emotional of the design elements. I believe texture is a close second. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.