I have been making pom poms & pennants for weeks, thinking that they were for Valentine's Day. However they have not coalesced into Valentines, just masses of pink yarn & tape, joyful but not cogent. So I am sharing a salt painting test that reminds me of cell diagrams from high school biology class. What intrigues me about this painting is that it appears as if the salt crystals are still on the painting, but I can assure you they have been scraped away. Interesting metaphor for love & human interaction more generally: your love can change a person & even after you are gone your presence can still be seen in their actions. So be careful with your fellow travelers & love generously. Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!
1 Comment
I have been working on the watercolor over gouache technique for the Oyster Shell series because it allows for more interesting bleeds to surface. But it takes away many of the pattern-like elements I like. So I am performing a balancing act between water & pigment. Enough water & pigment to make the bleeds I love, but not enough to erase the gouache. It is proving an elusive balance, but I will persevere. Happy Thursday Y'all!
I have been testing the watercolor pigment to salt ratios as background possibilites for brush print patterns. A lite wash of color is no longer in the running, doesn't even make it onto the blog for consideration. A medium wash (top picture) or a dark wash (bottom picture) are still up for consideration. I like the copper patina color that comes thru when I use the Hooker Green & Payne's Grey paint combo. And lean towards the medium wash because of the nuance it provides. But the dark was provides such a solid ground to work from & the white gouache then has much more paint to react with. So the testing will continue... Testing testing... Happy Wednesday Y'all!
For some reason, maybe the cold, at the end of January, every year I am drawn to working with textiles. It takes different forms, baby buoy & jersey braided cowls come to mind. This year my longing for textile work decided to crush on pom poms. I was inspired by the pom pom book I reviewed a few weeks ago for sure. When I gave my mother a pre-valentine garland she knew instantly where she wanted to display it. A few days later I received this photograph. I love the conversation between her painting & my garland. They certainly seem made for each other. Happy Tuesday Y'all!
Friday afternoon I had the privilege of being out on Broad Creek during sunset. The clouds different formations reminds me of the mark-making exercise page in a sketchbook. Happy Monday Y'all!
Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road. -Dag Hammarskjold
Happy Friday Y'all! I ran some tests on the use of gouache, salt, & watercolor washes with varying results. I am intrigued by how much the gouache changes color when layered with the watercolor & salt. That is the growing edge for me in these paintings. More tests are needed. Happy Thursday Y'all!
I went to sleep last night thinking this painting would look different than it does; I can never be certain of an image until I scrape the salt after its overnight cure. It was my first experiment using gouache under a wash, with salt as the final layer. The gouache ended up really muddying the Payne's Grey wash & the salt effectively erased the majority of the gouache lines painted along the "horizon" of this image. Overall not what I wanted, but still evocative of waves (if you really stretch). More experiments are needed. Happy Wednesday Y'all!
We had another particularly low tide yesterday so I went down to investigate the intertidal zone. Most of it is full of pluff mud, a quicksand like substance that will swallow your shoes faster than you can say the word shoes, therefore much of that expanse is not walkable. However there is a path right beside the bulwark that is passable. There were undulating cascades of oyster shells, the occasional turret shell, & lots of clams. Most of our other beaches do not have many shells, which I always thought was weird, so it was really exciting to see so many just a few steps down the bluff. Happy Tuesday Y'all!
|