Paint To Paper To Fabric

In the process of painting this piece, I used very simple "masks"-  a few pieces of white copy paper and one piece of 18" x 18" deli paper that created an "open windows" effect. (Lay the paper down, brayer paint over the edges, you've just used a "mask".)

By the time I was finished layering all those paint colors onto just a few pieces of paper, their surfaces were rich and vibrant with a complex blending of shades and colors. They were irresistible to me!

I monoprinted a little Stacked Journaling on some, left the rest alone, and when they were dry, I tore them up into random shapes and sizes. Using transparent fluid medium, I began collaging them back together into four distinct but obviously related art pieces

(18" x 18")

The multiple layers of paint and medium began to give the surfaces of the papers a glossy sheen, like they'd been polished.

(8.5" x 11)

I finally gave up trying to layer more matte medium on top of them to knock back the shine and just embraced the leathery quality that was emerging.

(11" x 14")

Deciding to mount the pieces for display, and still wanting to test the limits of  multi-purpose fabric, I cut 4 pieces of the fabric large enough to accommodate each collage, and using a 50/50 mixture of soft gel medium and fluid matte medium, I laminated the collages to the fabric.

 (8.5" x 11")

I sandwiched all of them between two weighted-down plywood boards until they dried, and then trimmed away the excess fabric from around the edges.

I'm really finding this fabric to be very versatile and I can see myself ordering more of it when this roll is gone.

Happy creating!

More Crafty Blasts Form The Past!

I was cleaning out storage cabinets in the studio today, making room for more stuff, when I came across these platters I made from wooden blanks, back in my paper-obsessed days. They held up in storage really well.

 12" diameter

They were made by ironing colored wax (crayons worked best) onto slick paper, crackling the wax after it had set, and then filling the cracks with a contrasting paint color (I was always fond of the shimmer Lumiere gave to these platters, so that's what I used).

(detail)

I'd smooth double-sided adhesive sheets onto the backs of the papers, cut them into piles of half inch strips and apply them- one by one, overlapping- to the platter blanks. Then I'd seal the whole thing with several coats of polyurethane. 

 18" diameter

The cool thing was that there was no priming of the wood necessary, first. I did, however, paint the underside of the platters, usually with the same color Lumiere I'd used on the papers. 

 (detail)

Lumiere when buffed into wood is really beautiful. Even though this is usually a very opaque paint, the grain of the wood still shows through.

18" diameter

(painted back and platter foot)

For a while I was also into making art with masking tape. Did you know that plain manila masking tape stains beautifully?? I found liquid acrylics most effective, but even craft paint did a great job.

 18" diameter

I covered the surface of the bowl with torn pieces of tape and then stained it phthalo blue. I constructed the face and the rays by tearing more tape and placing the pieces directly onto one side of a sheet of double-sided adhesive. I cut out the shapes with a craft knife, painted them, and then applied them on top of the background. 

(detail)

Then it got a few coats of poly, as well. I didn't have finger prints for a week, afterward- who knew masking tape could dry out your finger tips that much?

One more piece of masking tape art, just for fun.

 Ginger Tabby, 18" x 26"

(detail)

Happy creating!