"An Experience"

(unavailable.....4" x 6".....watercolor on Rives BFK....mounted on masonite)

"Tasting is an experience of seeing with eyes of the heart." This quote was inspired by a segment from Psalm 34: 8...."O taste and see that the Lord is good!". Obviously "tasting" in this context means something different from the tasting of food. Tasting in this passage is an experience.

The image you see today is a 4" x 6" piece cropped from a larger piece. It was created with watercolors on Rives BFK...beginning with very wet paper and dropping in some very dilute neutral tint. After the glisten was off of the paper, I created some back runs by dropping in more color. This creates the erratic gray shapes and edges in the piece.

After the paper was thoroughly dry, I added some black gestural lettering and erratic lines with FW ink and a pointed pen. The next step was to brush on some bands of color going edge to edge in two directions with very dilute watercolor.

Last came the final quote with Moon Palace Ink and pointed pen. I left the paper unprepared for lettering, so any mistakes would have ruined the piece. It has now been sprayed with Spray Acrylic Coating (3x). It will now be mounted on masonite and spray varnished. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"illumination" (draft 1)

                             (draft 1)


The image today is the beginning of a new work that has begun with watercolors. There are few mediums that can offer the luminous light effects that watercolor can. Glass is one other such medium, but it is not as portable or cost effective as watercolor. The quote will come later.

I woke up today with my mind on watercolor since there is an upcoming class coming to my studio. Even though I am not teaching the class, my desire is to see all of the luminous effects that will appear from this class.

So I decided to hunt down a quarter sheet of 140 lb. HP and do a bit of mono printing. Glass is undoubtedly the best surface for mono printing techniques so I squeezed out a small bit (1/8 tsp...or less) of Viridian Winsor Newton color onto the glass. I then sprayed a good amount of water and mixed the color and water thoroughly with my fingers (wearing gloves). I gave the paper a quick spray of water, but not over the entire sheet and then laid that paper down into the color and lifted it off...followed by drying with a hair dryer.

This same technique was repeated with Cerulean Bl.(WN brand), but not printed over the entire sheet. After drying, the technique was repeated again with Titanate Yellow (Maimeiri Brand) and then dried and cropped.

The word "illumination" was then written gesturally with a pencil. What I like is the combination of white paper showing...soft and hard edges....and especially the light effect that happens when watercolor is not overworked. This method prevents overworking since there is no brush work involved. The danger of watercolor is overworking or having a totally "dry brushed" technique. Watercolors are best created with water. (imagine that!)

Of course this is totally abstract with no representational image, but it does set the stage for the next step. In my case, the next step will probably be the addition of gesso to introduce more shapes, but leave the best of the luminous watercolor effect untouched. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Untitled" (draft 2)

(draft 2)

There will be one more draft of this quarter sheet of 140 lb HP and then you will begin seeing sections of it with another sheet done much the same way with different color notes.  I will then begin to reassemble the sections.

What you see today is four additional layers added to the piece posted yesterday. The first layer today was the inclusion of several text pages. (adhered with gel matte medium) After drying these pieces, I added more paint with a brayer.....Quinacridone Burnt Sienaa (Golden Fluid Acrylic) This is a very strong color so I did dilute it with water (50/50) before applying it to the piece with a brayer by rolling brayer into paint and then rolling it over several segments of the dry piece.

After this second layer was dried, I used an old credit card to deliver more gesso (undiluted) to the surface, but not over the entire surface. (It is best to allow some of the previous layers to show through.) After drying the gesso thoroughly, I sprayed it with alcohol and then brayered over the surface....alternating with the alcohol repeatedly until I was satisfied with the texture. This step with the alcohol and brayer is extremely important to break up some of the hard edges created by the paint and gesso and also to lift up the paint in an erratic fashion. (It creates a "mottled" effect.)

While doing the alcohol and brayer technique, I did inadvertently lift up some of the text pages which created a bit of deconstruction. After thoroughly drying all of this, I did brayer on some more paint in very key areas...followed by spraying with alcohol and brayering through that paint. So you can see that it is a very loose and spontaneous process, but the end result is all about creating depth and texture.

By tomorrow, I will have added some more layers and created another sheet of this plus cutting up some of the pieces and reassembling them on a 2" depth cradled board. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Untitled" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

Today's new beginning was created with fluid acrylic and gesso. This piece and several others will dramatically change and be reassembled to create a very different kind of color block. So the actual title may not be known for a few postings.

As I have shared so many times, it is always easier to create the visual first before coming up with quotes, titles, or both. This is especially true of abstract work because these types of works are often created through an intuitive and evolving process.

One thing I am also noticing with a great number of pieces under my belt is that the innermost thoughts of my being cannot help but show up in my art. Therefore, it becomes a very spiritual process for those of us who are praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit as we work. It doesn't mean that all work is mature if there is little experience, but the spiritual characteristics we embrace will come shining through.

And that's all the more reason to think and feel deeply about what we create. Passion then becomes the primary ingredient in creating work as well as a mastery of technique and materials. Abstraction has the power to be extremely sloppy and trite, but it also has the power to be filled with spiritual attributes that are quite moving and speak to the inner spirit.

Gesso is one way to create veiled effects that possess spiritual qualities when used in various states of dilution. In this beginning piece today, the color was poured onto glass...a brayer rolled into the paint and applied to dry paper. Several passes of the color were made for more saturation and then it was dried. Full strength gesso was applied over the entire piece with a credit card held close to the surface. A broad edged shaper tool or piece of matboard can also be used. After the gesso was applied, I used a brayer to spread it more thinly, followed by spraying with alcohol, and doing this alternately with the brayer in key areas to create the "veiled" effect. Gestural writing was also done with a pencil before paint or gesso was applied.

So, in essence, the technique involves laying down color and gesso and then removing part of it. There will be more layers of the same technique until there is mystery and depth to the surface texture. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Road Tested" (final)

(final)

($250.00.....11" x 14".....Mixed Media and Kiln Formed Glass on a Gesso Panel....Presented in a 4" Width Frame)

"Every God direction is road tested. Everyone who runs to him makes it." (Psalm 18: 30...from The Message) Eugene Peterson did an excellent job of writing the Bible in contemporary English. The words bring a lot of visuals to mind. This is the final and will be presented in a 4" width historical looking frame.

Since yesterday and after going to find a frame...I fully realized that black and white combinations (as wonderful as they are) can also be very cold in visual temperature. So I purchased a frame with some of my favorite molding which has a lot of brown.

When I got home, I decided to check out my stash of kiln formed glass and found a piece with lots of black, but also some yellow which looked like raw sienna. That selection sent the entire piece into a different direction.

I took a leap of faith and brushed on several colors of soft pastels over the rice papers. Of course, when you do that, the edges become prominent and the places where the gel matte medium "oozed" out also became prominent. I used brown, raw sienna, and burnt sienna pastels with touches of charcoal powder.

After securing all of that with spray acrylic coating, I added a few more plain pieces of rice papers. You can tell which ones they are because they are much lighter. After drying the new papers,  I also brushed on a bit of color over these papers but just enough to integrate them into the piece.

As I went along, I kept checking how the piece looked in the frame and when I was fully satisfied, I sprayed the entire piece (2x) with spray acrylic coating and let it dry overnight.

This morning I prepared the surface for lettering...practiced for at least 1.50 hours and then wrote the verse on the final. I feel completely at home with this look and since the Psalms make us feel comforted, I especially am pleased to have added lots of warmth to the piece.

The kind of depth in layering is also reminiscent of some of my old work so it all feels good to me. The most important thing I took away from working on this piece was not to be afraid to let the piece "morph" in a different direction. I also learned that soft pastels are a very happy companion to rice paper and add a layer of depth and ethereal qualities that are quite compelling. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Psalm 100" (draft 3)

(draft 3)

This is the third draft of Psalm 100. Hopefully, you can see that I've changed the orientation by rotating so that the dark "L" shape containing the darkest colors is now at the bottom. I am completely satisfied with that decision, but still have two days worth of dealing with values and toning down the area where the lettering will be.

Today's posting represents (4) more hours of work. I have cropped the piece to an 18" by 24" size, added several more mono printed sections, some text from an old bible, and a ton of plain rice papers. 

After each layer of papers, I did dry the piece with a hair dryer, spray it with acrylic coating before adding another layer. My main objective in adding some of the psalms from an old bible and especially the part in the upper center which says "The Book of Psalms" was to added mystery and completely let the viewer know that this piece is about the Psalms.  I also added some black papers, some text, and plain rice papers in that area to create a focal point.  I intend to fire a piece of glass the same size of that focal point. That part will be done last.

So you can clearly see that I eliminated a lot of the detail in the black mono printed papers, but still leaving enough behind for interest. The art of laying down rice papers has everything to do with overlapping and also revealing some of the edges from the previous layer. This creates a very ethereal look that also adds depth and almost an encaustic look.

I also added a bit of gestural writing with a charcoal pencil and also brushed on some charcoal powder with a small brush in the areas where I had text pages. Charcoal powder comes in a jar and is very powerful. I would strongly advise experimenting on a scrap piece of paper first. It can be difficult to remove. You could also use soft pastels in a black or dark gray.

If you look closely, you will see that there was method in my madness of where to place the mono printed rice papers. They are placed in such a way to look like they are weaving in and out of the bands of color created with the brayers. So after you have painted your color on with a brayer, you automatically have a "road map" of where to place the papers.

In retrospect, I do think that fewer bands of color and larger bands for larger pieces would be more effective, but I will withhold judgement until I've completed other pieces with these same techniques. Having larger bands and then cropping before adding papers might create a whole different dynamic.

My goal today and tomorrow morning is to tone down significantly the area circumvented by the black bands and containing the focal point. That is where the lettering will go and right now it is way too busy. I will either use rice paper or white gesso to get it all under control. I might even use some soft pastels after spraying the piece and preparing the surface for a new layer. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Blessed" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

Today's piece is the beginning of Psalm 1. The text will appear in its entirety in the final. This is a new technique woven together with other techniques to hopefully create a very dynamic piece.

This is a quarter sheet of 140 lb. HP (Arches). It has not been cropped, so I will have many options today as I decide on placement of more papers (or not). The entire text of Psalm I will be written in Spencerian Script and some brush lettering in the background.

The color selection was two complementary colors plus mono printed black papers. The delivery of paint to the paper was done first with a brayer (1.50" and 2.00") This technique can be achieved with most water soluble paints.

In this case I chose Speedball Printing Inks. The challenge was to mix the two complementary colors of blue and orange + white to create a range of grayish colors. The first mixture was equal parts of both colors + white and mixed with a palette knife on a glass printing surface. I also sprayed a lot of water in the mixture. Extreme dilution of most colors will yield a measure of transparency which was the goal here. If I had chosen transparent watercolors, there would have been a much more ethereal and transparent look. Gouache and Fluid Acrylics are also options.

The key is to have the paint very "soupy". The brayer was rolled through this mixture and rolled from edge to edge on dry paper. I created several stripes with my first mixture and then added a bit more blue and more water and did more stripes, followed by adding more of the orange + white and water and doing it again. So it is a very spontaneous process and you can see the shapes that are created and various windows (or openings) created when the paint crosses over previous stripes.

After drying and spraying this sheet of brayered stripes with spray acrylic coating, I began to select some mono printed rice papers to fill up some of the shapes. It is very important to cut these papers on the actual painted stripes and doing it with a clear grid ruler (available at Hobby Lobby) to make sure the papers look as though they are a continuation of the lines already there.

I also wrote into sections of the wet paint with a stylus to create some softly diffused letters and then when all was dry, I did some gestural writing with a pencil. All of this will make a nice backdrop to the final lettering which will be written in black.

And if you're not a lettering artist, simply allow your piece to be totally abstract and perhaps include some old text pages or line engravings, drawings, etc. A small drawing or a fragment of watercoloring would also be nice. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Unfettered Joy"

($40.00.....6" x 6".....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"Christmas is unfettered joy." For many reasons, good things seem to create an effervescent bubbling up of joy. The main reason, for me, is the birth of Christ which has changed my life forever. It was and is the most pivotal moment in history.

The piece today was a complete surprise to me. Here I was, minding my own business, and painting a cactus scene from Arizona. It happened to be one of those "raspberry" colored cactus that look so different from the typical green ones. Everything was going along just fine. I had painted the sandy looking foreground and the brush and bits of green that were in the background. It all went south went I began to paint the cactus. I couldn't tell whether they were roses, cactus, or some other strange looking flower. In the "blink of an eye", without even thinking about it, I picked up a palette knife and swiped over the entire painting! I followed that action by doing it several more times, but stopping before I went too far. 

The lettering then became quite important to me, so I picked up a Mitchell #6 nib in a holder and practiced my gestural writing...wiping off the paint after every stroke of the pen. And so goes my excursion into total abstraction.  And just a side note for those who work a lot with acrylics and wonder if they should get into oils.  This type of action could not have happened with acrylics...even with a lot of retarder.  The paint needs to be quite "squishy" and able to move easily.  Only oils will give you that ability.

The important point to note from all of this is that by showing up in my studio every morning, this very unexpected thing happened and now I have a plan to create more abstract work. Now I am thinking that by starting with an actual realistic image, I can break away from that and abstract it a little bit or a lot. This gets me one step closer to the "marriage" between abstraction, realism, and gestural writing. 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.

"The Apex" (sold)

(sold)


"Good books are at the apex of a wise person's life." The apex is a place where important things come to a point or good conclusion. I have a friend who has more books than me and she is a very wise person. It is a blessing to have a large library on your bookshelf or on your iPad.

This piece was cropped from a larger version of gestural strokes created with acrylic paints, glazing medium, and applied to the support with foam brushes and shaper tools. The entire process is all about laying down paint and then removing some.

It does help to spray the paper with water first and then use a concentrated amount of paint mixed with glazing medium to dip your foam brush into. The removal of paint was done with shaper tools and old credit cards. To achieve the solid smooth background first, the paint was brushed over the entire surface and then a brayer was used to smooth out the paint and also remove the excess. Wipe the brayer frequently and keep going in all directions over the entire surface until it is even and smooth. There are a few faint gestural makes created in this background before drying it completely.

After the background is dried, spray the paper with water again and create the bands or block of color and remove portions of the paint until you're satisfied. (Google Carol Pickle for tons of inspiration applying and removing paint.)

I did add just a bit of collage from some practice lettering I did some time ago and a portion of an old book page. With this type of background especially, it is important to use removable tape and play around with the placement of the collage until you are totally convinced you have it in the right place. I knew the collage element was in the right place when the corners were touching the background color in two places which totally grounded it to the background. There is also a lower case "b" in the upper left hand corner that fit in with the color and provided an echo of the main collage element. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Wild Ride"

($60.00.....6" x 6"....mounted on a 1.50" depth clayboard)




"Truth is the reliable saddle for this wild ride called life." Building a life on a wrong premise is disastrous, especially if it's never realized. Having the truth will at least keep the overwhelming odds of life on your side.

Abstract art can give the essence of a thing without giving all of the details. Such is the case with this piece. The colors are the first hint that this could have a western look. The white near the center  and the added brown patterns are reminiscent of a horse and saddle. This type of piece only happens by reacting to a spontaneous process with no preconceived idea of what may appear. I do like realism, but I've almost developed an aversion to anything that looks too contrived. Capturing the essence of anything is probably the most difficult kind of art to create, but it is also the most compelling.

Even when painting a traditional still life or landscape, there is a strong tendency to want to paint in too much detail. I've come to realize that for me, the best road to travel is to practice painting and lettering until it becomes effortless. I remember very well what Yves Leterme said about gestural writing. (paraphrase)...."Practice the strokes or movements until you can lay down a gesture exactly where it needs to go. Hover over the paper and make the movement in the air before laying pen to paper." Now that's a wild ride!....and just something else to think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Impulse"

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


"Impulse supercharges momentum." I am sure that everyone can recall a time when an impulse to do something was so compelling that it needed to be done immediately. If it was a good impulse, you seized the moment and had a good outcome. However, if it was a negative impulse, the outcome was quite different and only caused a problem. Another quote comes to mind...."Seize the day.....or Carpe Diem!"

There are many impulses in this piece. I am still playing around with the timing of pouring medium. After the pour, it is good to manipulate the colors by running a fork through them in a zigzag fashion. If too much water is present, the marbling effect may disappear, but if you wait for (5) or (10) minutes you can still effect the directional pull of the color with a plastic fork or cut up credit card. (Use tools that can be tossed.) In this piece I did some gestural writing. Much of it still blended too much, but you can see the evidence of some of the strokes in the green portions and in the bottom left hand corner.

Experimentation is the name of the game when exploring new mediums. I am also exploring different papers. This one happens to be 300lb HP watercolor paper. It is a preliminary study for a larger piece. Working on these smaller pieces gives a quick study of many approaches. Just something to try or think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Everyone Likes It" ($40.00)

(adjusted price.....$40.00)

"Jazz music is much like gestural writing...everyones seems to like it, but few can figure out how to do it." Some skills in life look very easy, but in reality they require a lot of observation as well as practice. That's exactly what I thought about gestural and even expressive lettering. It looks like something any person off the street could do.  (Oh, contrare!) I think that is true of many skills in life. For instance, the art of conversation and simply getting along with people in general looks so easy, but it requires a lot of wisdom, self control, and simply looking at things from another person's point of view. Perhaps I can get started on that today because it is one of the most necessary skills in living successfully with others.

This piece was whittled down to some very angular shapes by painting over some areas with black gesso and using a commercial stamp and Speedball Printing Ink to add some interest. Black and white can literally anchor any piece and calm down some of the more chaotic parts. Besides, black and white are two colors that come to mind when thinking of any kind of music. Color alone can inspire thoughts in any area when the associations with that color are present. Everything does not have to be literal in abstract art.

Another thing that came to mind as I started thinking about the lettering is whether or not to follow the lines that were already in the piece or make the lettering straight. And then I remembered a great teacher who said to always make the lettering straight in the design space when there is a lot going on in the background. It works. Viewers can only take in so much detail before they get tired and give up looking. As much as we would all like to write expressively and gesturally to the point that it deteriorates into unreadable text, the average person does not want to stand on their head to try to read the text. I believe that a happy compromise is to be as expressive as you like in the background, but keep the main thing the main thing by making it readable to those who expect to read anything that looks like text. Of course, that's only my opinion. But it is something to stop and think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Caliente" (unavailable)

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






This particular color combination is fresh and exciting because it's a new twist on an old favorite. Red and green are the two most recognized complementaries on the color wheel. What you see here is a derivative of this classic favorite. Enjoy this "colorist" piece and these "hot" (caliente) colors!

As I have mentioned numerous times on my blog, most of my pieces, after the first month of blogging, begin with paste paper. (Recipes of this paste can be found if you google "paste paper".) After making your paste, the next step is to mix some of the paste with a portion of acrylic paint or any other water media or powdered pigments. I use Golden Acrylics with an ocassional tube of Liquitex. The advantage of paste paper are the textures that can be created in the paste before it dries.

The "hot" red in this piece was created with Napthol Red, Cadmium Orange, and a bit of Raw Umber and White. The green was created with Green Gold plus a bit of Raw Umber and White. If you also want some of the olive green, just add more Raw Umber and leave the white out. Color is an exciting thing to experiment with and playing around with it by referring to a color wheel is a great first step.

The gestural writing was written with Perylene Violet Gouache (WN). It's an excellent choice rather than always going for black or brown, especially when using a "hot" combination like this. Just something to think about.