Layered Ambiguity

"Forgotten"
11x14" mixed media on board

Impressionistic, Attic-y feel with a subtle use of mostly black and white.
Lots of history or soul to this piece in the many layers.
Materials include acrylic paint, found images, Japanese papers, parts of an old painting, fabric and plaster.
Can't get much more mixed media than that.
But maybe I will try!

Many Techniques, Many Layers

Rust Belt Landscape
Mixed Media on Board

This started out as a demo for a workshop and actually made its way to finished product.
That doesn't always happen with my demos.  It did take a lot of work for me to get it to this stage.
Many revisions.  I was working with the rusting technique, burning, and painting.
The other 2 pieces in this series are more blue and cool colors, so it was a challenge to work with the pinks and browns here.

I really like incorporating found materials in my work.
With this piece I was able to use some found metal objects to create the rust stains on the piece, and then use those along with some actual rusted objects. The incorporation of the gold squares reference another form of alchemy where no tarnishing or patination has taken place.  I wanted the contrast of the bright, clean gold color along with the rusted areas. The idea of a landscape comes from the architectural nature of the artwork...buildings, doors, windows, fences.
Bright and clean.  Rusted and tarnished.
Like life.

Many techniques and layers...my signature.

Arch and Ivy

Arch and Ivy
8x8"  mixed media collage

The last few pieces (some of which I've posted and some not) have been heavily layered.
I wanted to go back to work with layers that are thinner thus revealing, not totally hiding, the ground or base layers.
As with much of my work, the materials and process influence my decisions.
The circle of ivy leaves was one of the original elements in this collage.
The archway developed or appeared as I added other papers and paint.
I am finding that the stained tea bag papers remain transparent so what ever is underneath still has some presence.
They also take paint well.  The arch appeared from the stained marks on the tea bag and was enhanced by some
watercolor paint.

Mended Door, Tea Bag Painting

Mended Door
3.5 x 3.5" recessed in a 6x6" frame

I received a comment yesterday about the tea bag painting of a poppy addressing the stitching on a piece so small.
(Thanks, Heather!)
The stitching in that piece was on the original collage that I resized and then transferred to the tea bag.
In this piece you can see the size of the stitches and that they are sort of out of proportion to the rest of the painting.
The used tea bags are somewhat fragile, depending on what kind of tea bags they are, how long I let them sit before I emptied out the contents, etc.
I don't mind the small tears and holes.  I think they add a certain character that is authentic to the fact that it is a recycled material.  In this piece I added more watercolor paint, pen and ink lines for definition and some shellac.  The shellac adds more strength to the piece without affecting negatively the translucency of the tea bag.
The artwork is not mounted directly onto the inside of the box, but raised on some foam core so that it appears to float within the box.

Priced at $50.  To purchase, please visit my Etsy shop.

Very Mixed Media

Window Curtain
From the Upcycle Series

This is the last piece in the Upcycle Series that will reference back alleys and doorways.
There are no other pieces of the old acrylic painting that I am recycling with  shapes on them that ft this theme.
I could have called this "Duplex" or Awning" but I like the white shape on the right that looks like a curtain blowing out of an open window.  It has been fun to play with the shapes that were already established and to find a way to work with them.

The original painting in this piece was mostly black.
I wanted to distinguish the door shape on the right from the rest of the piece, using red over the black to do that.  Along with the acrylic painting that I started with I also use craypas, water color, shellac, and closed pencil.
So very mixed media, which is what I do.
It works for me to be able to combine lots of media to work though an artistic challenge.

This piece is 6x6" priced at $75 including shipping to the US.  For purchase information, email me.

A Return to Doors

Back Alley
Part of the Upcycle Series

When I first started making quilts in the late 1980's and 90's windows and doors
were a large part of the imagery I used.

I have always liked the geometry that these architectural elements present.
Their visual impact carries a lot of emotional, social and sometimes cultural connotations.
Doors allude to the ideas of openings and closures, entrance and exclusion.

What kind of place is this with its dark exterior and crooked door?
Do I want to enter or stay out?
Is it day or night?
There is something both lovely and rich about the colors.
It is artistic intuition at its best.
I really like this one!

This piece is 6x6" and priced at $75 including shipping to the US.  To purchase please email me.

The Importance of Layering and Transparency

Door and Window

Here is the second in my Upcycling Series where I am reinventing old acrylic paintings along with plaster, shellac, and encaustic paint.  I had a lot of fun stitching the canvases from my old paintings.  Finding a way to use them with these other mixed media elements has been a discovery.

I find that I am using plaster and sanding in the same way I use encaustic paint and a razor blade to scrape and excavate to underlying  layers.  The more I work and experiment the more I realize how important transparency and layering are to me and my process.

This piece is 6x6" and priced at $75 including shipping.  To purchase please email me.