The Life Of A Painting
This was a discarded cradle board that I picked out of the trash at the studio to experiment on...not to mention cradle boards are too pricey to end up in the trash, so I nabbed it! It looked like it was a failed paint pouring piece, so I sanded it down and put a few coats of clear gesso on it to prepare it to work on. I actually love finding discarded substrates as they already offer a colorful underpainting to add to the history of the piece it will end up being. I also love painting on a clear gesso surface, the texture is kinda gritty to paint on.
I used this as a demo board in my Mixed Media classes for how to lay papers onto a substrate without buckling and getting them to lay down smoothly. I actually pulled this video from my library on the very process of laying papers on this panel...
Once class was over I started playing with the board, turning it around until I found shapes I could make something out of...in this case I found a head of colorful hair...added in some eyes and was ready to move forward with the piece.
The cut out magazine eyes were just a place holder to build the rest of the shapes around. And while the blue eyes were very unsettling (and pretty) I decided to hazel them up a little.
I went in with teeny tiny pieces of torn and cut papers to recreate the eyes, some including text. While I was pretty happy how these were turning out, they were a little prettier than I intended for this piece. I partially covered the left eye with used tea bag papers, topped with a printed dressmakers pattern. It softened the eye perfectly.
The right eye, as pretty as it was, needed a little more drama...pull out your Stabilo pencil and do a little free form scribbling! Exactly what it needed!
Once I got all the details in I added a few more pieces of text...
Who Will Led The Recovery?
This is the election that hits home!
The coronavirus hits EVERY American
And a reminder to get out and
VOTE!
A Social/Political Call
The corrugated cardboard was on the original piece when I was laying down papers for the video. It just happened to end up where her mouth would be, unintentionally! I actually was going to remove it before I realized it was a piece that had something more to say than just pretty.
Masks
Unspoken Words
Keep Silent
Could have so many meanings.
The next steps in the paintings life...
Hanging outside my studio, Studio6, at
I'm also entering it into the Jen Tough Artist Alliance show...
We The People
If you're interested in exploring mixed media with me through Denise Cerro Studio...
I have a 4 week, online, live mixed media class starting on October 5th
from 10:00 to 1:00 PMT
I would love to have you join in!
Link below...
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