This week I decided to take those screen-printed branches I wrote about last week and do some layering and collage experiments with them.
(For what seems like forever, I have been interested in textile collage that hangs on a plain canvas backer, with a raw edge. I love this look. I have created a number of pieces with various finishing and hanging methods, but nothing has been quite right. I saw another artist’s work with a presentation I liked, and that’s where this experiment is headed.)
For now. . . the stenciling and layering.
Above, on my worktable, I have the partially assembled piece and a paper tree stencil, ready to overpaint. I’ve chosen a much more subdued palette than the other big work I created with these screen printed branches. My hope is to get most of the work pushed back and subtle, so that beautiful vibrant blue will stand out inside the tree.
I have black acrylic paint and matte medium in a little disposable Styrofoam tray ready for rolling. I use this as my palette and paint tray for the foam roller. I’m showing this so you can see about how much I mix up for a project this size: about a heaping teaspoonful each of medium and paint. But, when I mix them together, I’ll go light on the paint and heavier on the medium. I want transparency. And, if it’s too pale, I can always go back over it with more paint. (But—if I got on too much paint, it’s almost impossible to backwards and recapture transparency.)
Now I rolled on the medium-black paint mix, holding the stencil in place with bits of tape and my fingers as I worked.
Above, just a helpful storage tip. Sometimes I don’t want to wash out my foam roller after each use. I know I’m going to come back to this color again tomorrow.) So, if you wrap it tight in wax paper or clear plastic wrap, then put the roller in a plastic storage bag with all the air pushed out, it will stay soft and usable for a few days.)
Here’s the reveal: transparent black background pattern of branches visible through the black, but the bright blue tree shape clearly visible.
The result so far is the vision I had in my head when I started.
So nice when that happens!
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Invitation: For folks who are within an easy drive distance to DeLand, I invite you to the artist talk I’m giving Friday, July 10 at 6pm at the Museum of Art DeLand. Galleries open at 5:30. Free for members and $10 for not-yet-members. We’ll be in the main gallery with my works exhibiting and I’ll be talking through what I think about to create a new work and how I create the quilts.
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For all of us: focus each day on the good that needs to be done in the world.
Be part of doing it.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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