From Demo to Finished Painting

When I left the workshop in Newport earlier this month, I came home with 2 demonstrations that were not yet complete. As always, I needed some time to look at each of them, and determine what was needed for me to feel they were signature ready.

Demo 1

This first piece was exploring the use of hand made patterns to bring the viewer's eye to the 2 women. The patterns were straight from my head and created from a spontaneous energy. The mosaic wall was an inspiration from Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain where I saw beautiful mosaic walls designed by Gaudi. I chose to limit the color to red only and limited its use, so the 2 women would stand out. I am now experimenting with creating more flat spaces, so the eggplant (aubergine) color on the bottom was created with gouache which kept a flatness I could not achieve with transparent watercolor. Most of the painting is transparent, but I used both watercolor pencils and a black sharpie for line work and defining body shapes.

Once I had the painting at home I was able to make decisions I didn't have time to make at the workshop. The faces were left very plain, but once I had time to get to know these 2 people, I knew they needed more defined faces--expressions even. And as I worked on the faces, I started to see their story. Mother-daughter? Sisters? Cousins? They are not at home, perhaps not even in their native country. They have stopped at a cafe or view point and asked a stranger to take their photo. This is a picture for their album to remember this trip.

Traveling with Mom
mixed media
16" x 12"

My class participants were very interested in one of the pieces I brought from my drawer labeled "patterns and collage." They requested that I do a demonstration that would be similar to how I created "Fascinatin' Rhythm."

Fascinatin' Rhythm
mixed media
22" x 30"

I chose to use the same method to start the demo, protecting the large white shape with contact paper. In the demo, I chose to go for an abstract floral. I used a stamp for the flowers centers that a class participant gave me (a circle cut out from a silicone hot pad.)

By the end of the day, I had begun layering leaf shapes and creating some petals in the flowers. I love the spinning of the paper to use the same colors around the outside. This is a great way to ensure color unity in a piece. I made further progress on the second day I worked on this at the workshop, but it wasn't until I had it home in the studio that I could put on the finishing touches. 

Efflorescence
mixed media
15" x 22"