a wip painting abstracted from a photo

I started this a while ago and have continued to layer and layer and erase and layer some more, trying to get the depth of color and the feeling of a rusty piece of metal here and there. Here are the steps, more or less..... Here's the piece of a photo that I'm attempting to abstract....

Scraped on a first layer of fluid green/teal random base color (with a credit card).  Then added some shades of blue.

Laid on some more colors and the first couple shades of color to become the "rust".

Added some modeling paste texture at the top and in the arc to indicate the rusty part.

Wasn't loving this direction,so painted over and added the texture circles and went off in a new direction.....

Then stenciling, dripping, more color.  It feels unfocused.  Probably because it is....I wasn't "feeling" it yet.

Of course, it needs collage!  Hated the dark mess I made of the circles on the bottom.....

Lighten up those circles, block paint the vase......liking it better.  What's a vase without flowers?

And there you have it.....some of the progression steps of my most recent piece. There may be a series of sorts in this theme......

Seattle

More 365/2 art -

Continuing my quest to complete 365 projects for my second consecutive year.  Hit a bit of a snag in my production the last couple weeks - life just keeps getting in the way and I'm having a hard time making something every day.  But, I press on......

#276-279:  ATCs for MMSA project......haven't made any for a long time and it was fun to make little bits of art again.....

The bottom left pocket is actually made from a shiny silver envelope liner, not this dark gray thingy.

#280 - layers of painting made with drips and stencils, scribbles and shapes.  Still a work in progress.

#281 - I'm pleased with how this one turned out.....my first time using modeling paste (lower left). There's tons of layers that weren't going anywhere until I decided to collage some book pages in a rough vase shape.....then, it was easy and kinda finished itself.

detail

#282 &; 283 - Laura shared how she makes her collages using polymer medium and a tacking iron.  I thought it was interesting but didn't follow up on it.....then I saw that Karen gave it a try and fell in love with the process so that pushed me to try...... I bought a jar of the polymer on sale at Michael's and just used my regular iron on its lowest setting.  Here's my first couple of "iron on" collages, no glue used!  Then a bit of paint added.  

I used various weights of paper, some deli paper, tissue paper, magazines, etc.  Everything stayed in place really well.  You can see more detail on Karen's blog and Laura's made a how-to video.

#284 - a journal page still experimenting with polymer collaging. I made a fabulous discovery. I put polymer on both sides of this drying leaf and let it dry then I ironed it on with other collage pieces. I turned the iron up a bit and it was too hot so kind of melted the polymer off the front of the leaf (you iron over a piece of freezer paper so no iron was hurt in this process!) but  absolutely firmly sealed it to the journal page with no crinkles, wrinkles, or tears!  I love this discovery!

I'll continue sharing my progress - and watching yours. Have a creative weekend!

wordless wednesday

Inspired by Carlene Taylor Simmons, originating with Right Brain Planner.

week 40 of 365/2 (part 1)

Sep 29 - Oct 5

Running a little behind on my 365 project but here's where I am so far.

#271 - 275 -   gratitude journal pages; pen & inktense colored pencils

I'm working on several journals to gift and there will be doodled pages, scrapbook paper pages, pockets, quotes, and whatever I can think of (and have time to finish).  I'll share bits and pieces here and a more complete look when they're done.

photo spotted: nature

Hanna has once again offered a theme and reason to wander through our photos - to "spot" a theme in how we take our photos.  This month is a hugely broad theme of "nature" - to refine it a bit, do you see a sub-theme in your photos?  A color, a season, water, trees, rocks, whatever, that you return to again and again?  Since I have about a million nature photos, this was tough.

Maybe roses?

Maybe trees?

Maybe mountain vistas?

Maybe close-up nature textures?

Or, how about gorgeous gardens?

Mother nature is so endlessly changing, so often dressed in her finery, she creates such beautiful, colorful settings - how could we mere mortals NOT love her in all her glory?  We try to capture and interpret the beauty with our cameras, our paintbrushes, our pencils and collage pieces. We find inspiration in her vistas and the teeniest of details.

Thanks Hanna for once again giving me an reason to go back and sort through some of my favorite photos.  Why don't you take a moment and look through your nature photos - and then share with us?

wordless wednesday

Inspired by Carlene & Right Brain Planner

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