Each of these four new paintings is on a 40" X 40" X 2" wood panel using a lot of collage with papers I've painted or printed. I wanted to have some large pieces for the American Craft Council show which is in Baltimore next week.
This one started out as a painting of trees. I tried to make it work because I've done lines of trees before and I know people like trees and I am trying to make a living here BUT I just couldn't connect with it. So, the tops of the trees remain and the bottom three quarters of the piece is collage over what were the trunks, which you can still see through the thin paper. I printed the papers first using blocks I'd made from various materials and colors that went with the underpainting, progressing from ochre to sienna, then blue. It was all rather random and free form. The other details over the first layer of collage are cut out from painted wax paper for the most part. Title hasn't come to me yet.
This started with the sky which came about by softening a painting underneath that had been applied with a scraper, so the edges had been sharp. Then I had to come up with what to do with the top and bottom. I covered those surfaces with printed papers then found details in the textured surface to enhance and make into things. More collage of painted paper added to painted objects. Calling it Hieroglyphs on the Cliffs. Maybe.
This one is called Our Town. Lots of texture created by applying tissue with matte medium and letting it wrinkle and bunch up. Painting the dried surface then dragging oil pastel over it helps enhance that texture. Also has collage of painted papers. At one point this painting was composed of a bunch of big circle, the remnants of some still detectable.
A larger version of Bouquets While Living from the bird series. There is another collage under this using more color, but I painted over it and went with the earth tones again for the painted and printed papers making up the forms.
Did I mention these pieces were a lot of fun to do?!
