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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
