This little collage was inspired by the women in my little artist book class this summer. Breaking some rules I've always worked by: covering the entire surface of the piece, making things big, making things match, avoiding the number 13. 13 has been lucky for me so I'm celebrating it here. Enjoy and thank you for visiting.
Day 13 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
This painting started as something completely different. I started with the usual 7 layers of medium, then incised a grid and dropped a different color of alcohol ink into each square. The result was similar to the button piece, visually. I really liked the way it looked but then added some ink to it, and when I wiped away the excess I ruined the effect. I had pressed the letters "raspberry beret" into the piece because of the color and the somewhat musical structure of the design. So I let the ruined painting sit for several days and came back to it today. I decided to paint over the grid with a white version of a pussy hat, playing on the idea of the raspberry beret. I added several layers of color, using oil sticks and mixing red, white and clear wax, then incised the grid over the hat and filled it with red oil stick. Finally I pressed the letters in again and filled them with orange. This time I did not add a final layer of wax medium; I wanted it to stay gritty.
I really like the color play and how the image floats above the grid. Thanks for visiting!
Day 9 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
I wanted to create this button piece for my daughter, who has taken an interest in sewing. A lot of my photography is around textiles: abandoned silk factories and clothing mills from the early 20th century. And my mixed media work references weaving and needlecraft. So I collected these buttons and put them together in a grid against a simplicity pattern from the 1960's - one that my mother might have used in a time when she made all of my sister's and my clothes. The piece began with 8 layers of encaustic medium. I floated the pattern onto the liquid wax on the top- most layer so that it would appear transparent. I added a few more layers of medium and then embedded the buttons before topping the piece off with a final layer of wax.
I like the perceptual effect of the differently-sized buttons: the energy created between them vibrates with energy against the creamy base of the wax. Thanks for visiting!
