#ARTifacts - September 2017. Abstract Detail.

 A detail section of this painting becomes abstracted.

#ARTifacts - March, Rust & Cactus.

 #ARTifacts art journal page for March, collage mixed media.

 Rust experiments on calico.

Learning to paint Cactus in acrylic on canvas.
Just some of the arty things I tried in March.

'Little Bird' - Gel Skin Medium Transfer/Mixed Media

(raylee)

Most of the time I like to experiment just to see where it takes me.....After reading about Image Transfers thought I would have a try with a black & white photo.

After all the backing paper was removed it was a little bland & ghost like.

 Which I liked but  decided a darker background was needed to bring the image more into focus. Black gesso over used watercolour paper & a bird stencil over the black with white gesso made a much more interesting background.

 When the image was placed over the black & white it  created more depth, pushing  the old   building back & making it more ghost like, and this brought the girl riding her bike forward. 

 Once on the canvas it still needed something else.

 A colourful frame..... acrylic painted over old used watercolour paper, collage frame image & a border stenciled with markers. Two subtle bird image transfers, some branches with buds & text transfer & a spotty transfer on the top at the sides to finish.

The marker line border was made with this stencil from Stencil Girl Products designed by Seth Apter.

Making Art Personal Through Images

 Just four weeks ago this was a blank canvas (48" x 36").
When someone asks me to " paint something for them", the question starts racing through my head: WHAT??.....Paint what?.....Not such a dilemma when you know the person well, as I did in this case.
Once the size & colours were agreed on I was pretty much left to make the subject decision myself.
I knew roads were a favourite with this person. My interpretation of this road is located very close to her birthplace of Cooma NSW. (Australia).
 First thing to do was cover the canvas with yellow acrylic, draw a basic composition for the road & the Poplar trees. Sort through the paper stash to find images of her hobbies, likes, memories & start tearing the suitable images to make a start.

 These papers become part of the grass, the colour of the knitted bits are the colour of the dry grasses around the Monaro.

 Sheep & wool were a part of her childhood living in the country.

 Filling in spaces with paint & torn paper collage. Trying to find suitable colours & textures for the composition.

 A visitor taking refuge from the rain.
The sky is becoming a mixture of blue sky images, fabric, feathers & knitting...... my favourite part so far. The yellow Poplars are standing tall reaching for the light.

 "We are all mad here"......not just the sheep!!

 The butterfly represents her new venture into sewing & creating her own business.

 "Blood Lines"= Family.

 All the images blend & complement each other to tell her story.

 Towards the end some of the images have been cut to give them more definition.
Layers of paper & paint all come together to create  this painting of happy memories, & maybe some
fun discovering the relevance of some images.
(raylee).

Intention...becoming a reality

Collage & acrylic on canvas. (raylee).

Intention

Change Can Be Good

 Layers of paint & texture in the beginning.....

 the morning sunlight shows all the texture on the canvas....but what I thought was a landscape just wasn't happening the way I thought it should......so I painted over the whole thing!

A few squirts with the spray bottle to get some runs.....

 The landscape is now in portrait mode......a very different picture emerging now....

a new subject, retaining all of the paint layers & textures.
'Orange Cardi' - not quiet discarded....yet.
( raylee ).

Image transfer/mixed media

"This is what she wrote......"

 Image transfer on old book page with gesso undercoat & cobalt blue acrylic around the edge of the pages.
I found this image a long time ago in a National Geographic magazine.
When I paint I brush excess paint onto old book pages etc. As I did this I noticed the words " this is what she wrote" at the top of the right hand page....this page just so happened to be the one I had chosen for this image transfer........so this was my inspiration for this artwork.

Drawing over a dry watery coat of burnt sienna with pen, added some colour to the drawing with watercolour pencils.

 Collaged a paper border with printed handwriting on it onto the canvas board.

 Then added the book page with gel medium. When it was dry I added the corner collage pieces.

  Last of all crayon which I smudged with my fingers to soften the overall appearance of this picture.

(raylee).

Art today....texture & layers of paint

On my work table......mark making, paint layers, creating texture with palette knife, stencils, stamps (from recycled found bits & pieces) & impasto gel with acrylic on canvas.
(raylee).

Faux Rust Butterflies....Mixed Media

 Faux rust butterfly 40 x 40 cm.

Faux rust butterflies on fridge, 10 x 10 cm.
(raylee).

Rusty Butterflies

 The butterfly shapes were cut from old watercolours, the canvas boards had collage & ribbon on them, then repainted with a fairly dry brush, & rusty nail & old wire to make the butterfly bodies.

Rusty  butterflies on canvas boards, 4" x 4", 10cm x 10cm.

Mixing Faux Rust technique ( find this technique at thicketworks ) with real rusty nail & wire to make the butterflies, then attached to repainted canvas boards.
(raylee).

Where does the inspiration come from?

A collage acrylic on canvas that I had forgotten to post. Out of sight out of mind as they say. The little deer was from a magazine & the trees I cut from a piece of scrap wallpaper. The texture of the design on the wallpaper was very soft to the touch. The leafy patterns worked well for the trees. As usual I started with an idea which was to incorporate the colours from the floral fabric I had made slip covers from for the outside chairs.

Add caption

After a lot of experimenting with colours the painting became a lot more snowy but included all the colours from the fabric used on the chair covers.

The fabric is so different from the finished painting but started the process that created the snowy scene. In some of my first art classes many years ago we were given pictures to paint from, not to copy but to interpret in our own way. A valuable exercise that I use sometimes when I am not sure what I want to paint. (raylee).

Found a blue feather on the ground......

 As I was walking through the gate of a cemetery after attending a funeral a few years ago I noticed this feather in the grass under the pine trees. The blue caught my eye, I picked it up & put it in my bag. I have a collection of feathers in a turquoise glass jug in my art room, the blue feather joined the collection.

 This is the first layer of colour on the canvas, at this stage I had no image in mind, just playing with pastel colours.

 Just continued changing colours, turning the canvas to make the paint run in different directions.

 Adding more layers....

 What would a dark border look like?

 Made scratchy lines with thin wire dipped in dark paint.....

 It needs blue.......

 more blue......more drips...

 more blue, lighter now......starting to like the patches of  warm colours showing through from the previous layers....is something happening now?

 change again, add aqua.....

 remove the dark border.......still no image in mind,  creating texture using just paint.....looking better now......but not finished .....now I know it needs a dark against the light background!

 Then I saw my blue feather.....

 To finish I lightly sanded back some of the blues to reveal more of the warm under layers of paint.

Blue feather.

Sometimes painting without pressure, with no real or imaginary image to try to reproduce or create is a much more pleasurable experience. I enjoy letting go & trying something just for the fun of it, sometimes I end up with a painting I am  pleased with, sometimes not......but sometimes one thing leads to another & creates a feeling, atmosphere, texture, colour, a memory......an image: imaginary or real.
Yes I am happy with this painting!
(raylee).