"Balance"

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


"Balance in life is the right distribution of time in key areas." Ouch! This quote hits me square between the eyes. This is just a friendly reminder to all who care about doing life well.

Monoprint, erratic lines, photography, gesso, graphitint pencils, and lettering. That is the sequence of how this piece was done. It creates a mood and that's what I go for in every piece I create. What is the quote and how do I create a mood that fits?

The Graphitint Pencils (Derwent) are fantastic in helping create mood. I'm sure that some of you might be thinking why not use water soluble pencils. Pencils might still leave some of the pencil marks in place even after adding water. These pencils are water soluble graphite. It is soft and dissolves quite nicely into the background. Even watercolors will not be as completely integrated as these.

And just in case you are under the impression that you are looking at an image of a church. it is not. This is actually one of the many spires emerging from The Biltmore Estate. If you're ever in Ashville, N.C., you really must take a day to go. You will not be disappointed. Just something else to try or think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Love and Friendship"

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


"Transparency in relationship is a prerequisite to deeper levels of love and friendship." True intimacy requires not holding back. Hopefully, we all have a few relationships where we can "let our hair down", so to speak. These persons are rare. If you have more than one or two in your life, consider yourself blessed.

In this piece, I added another technique to my repertoire. I bought a set of Derwent Graphitint pencils. They are a water soluble graphite that yield neutral color when applied. They were used extensively over this photograph after I sprayed it with spray acrylic coating (3x). By first applying pencil marks where you want more of a color boost, followed by going over those marks with a wet brush, you can get the most subtle effects. The most obvious place where I used one of these pencils is in the neutral red heart on the right hand side. The berries were also given a boost with the same color. The set comes with 12 pencils ranging in various shades of grays...some leaning towards red, green, or blue.

The most obvious blue in the background was created by monoprinting with Caran d'Ache Carribean Sea Ink. Both of these techniques work very well with transparent imagery or any photo that has a lot of subtle color to begin with. Just one more thing to try or think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.