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| Easy as 1,2,3 collage on Ampersand board 12" x 16" |
I started with laying down shapes. This is a typical way to begin. Once I had a sort of under structure down, I took my acrylic pen and made all sorts of gestural and connecting lines. This is not typical! The actions produced a mild sort of panic actually but I realized that I was OK with gessoing over things. Once I did that I sort of began to warm up to those shapes and lines being covered. It suggested things!I freshened things up with some white paint, leaving some areas less painted than others. I like the subtle dimension that the painted shapes give. Then I began to add shapes just like I normally do. I was more selective though than usual, taking care not to add too many small shapes. I then took my new letter stencils and stenciled the letters A, B, and C onto the piece in just three places. (It was at this point that I began humming the Jackson Five song.) Adding the almost black circles was kind of crazy but I like it. I am a cautious and restrained sort of person and so while the above piece doesn't seem crazy, for me I took some small leaps.
The bigger news though for me is the way I started the piece. It is just in my nature to want to have some sort of a guide. A drawing of some sort is best but the danger in that, for me anyway, is being too rigid in sticking to that drawing ;too literal. I used one of my line/gesture sketches to start this piece. It helped me to lay down some initial big shapes. The drawing was just a guide and it took away that feeling of walking on a tightrope without any sort of a net or pole for balance. I don't know what other people think but I don't believe that art making should induce fear and loathing in one when one walks into the studio. Those aren't good feelings. Whatever one has to do to eliminate that is OK with me.
I sure hope everyone is having a good week. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Libby
It's amazing how very internalized your art-making efforts are. You seem to find yourself making good progress using and manipulating all of these concepts, materials and methods, and that is so exciting. Self-discovery tends to push us further in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited about the layering you tried on this piece! Lots of possibilities there. I think the black circles serve to connect the other elements within the piece. They offer "containment" to me - not where the other elements are enclosed by any means - but offers a "weight" or "unity" to the overall layout.
Gee, I hope that makes sense.
Carol,
DeleteWhat you wrote makes total sense and it is the same feeling that I have. I thought of those circles as a kind of unifying or linking element. I am not sure if it is the value that perhaps causes the other elements to not feel constrained in some way. Both the color and value seem to work for me.
If I have learned nothing else over the last 9 years it is this: art directly reflects someone's personality. No one can convince me otherwise! And so yes, my efforts definitely stem from something internalized and reflect the fact that I am a thinkey-kind of person:) And I am home by myself all day and have lots of time to think:)
Thank you as always for your observations and comments. I appreciate it!
Libby
Dear Libby you are really moving bravely into a new and exciting way of creating. The black circles just add the perfect touch. Go girl. Cannot wait to see what is next. Hugs
ReplyDeleteThanks Debbie! What encouraging comments. I sure hope that these small little leaps can be sustained and will lead to new things. I want to enjoy art making and I hope this sort of stuff helps.
DeleteThe week is almost over. Hope it was a good one for you:)
Libby
Dear Libby you are really moving bravely into a new and exciting way of creating. The black circles just add the perfect touch. Go girl. Cannot wait to see what is next. Hugs
ReplyDelete