The making of a painting

Sometimes in the middle or end of a very detailed painting, the exactness and particulars wear on me. Its at those times, I quickly grab a completely empty canvas and without much thought begin to paint some basic colors for backgrounds, tear up some printed paper and tissue paper for collaging and using special glue meant for collage, just start gluing it down - just however. It feels so good - just to throw down the colors, the papers, the paint. Therepeutic. Releasing. Forget the details on the other painting for a bit. Let the creative juices flow. Often, there will be two paintings going at the same time. One a detailed one, and one more of an abstract.

After getting some color on, I look at it, and all of a sudden, it “looks like something” to me, and I begin to build on the piece. This 9 x 12 canvas is just such a one. The “wall” was printed collage, parts of the bushes on either side, as well as the lower right flowers, and on each of them I painted more, added some inks and tissue paper. The “sun’s core” was taken from an outdated poetry book, picked up from a thrift store. Over the entire piece, there are bits of colored tissue paper that adds depth and changes of perception, that I can’t get with paints alone. But there is a lot of detailed painting added to it as well. All in all, this was a delightful piece to paint, and it just “came together” beautifully. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The original and fine art giclee prints available in my shop now.