Wordy Hydrangea

"Wordy Hydrangea" - 6x6 - Mixed Media Collage

OK, time to get back to talking about  my artwork. I've had fun setting up my new studio in Savannah and experimenting with new materials. I never thought for a moment I could get such great results from the most prosaic items.

The image you see above began with an inexpensive wrapped canvas. I further wrapped it in a sheet of newspaper and then to that I applied a scrubbed on layer of latex wall paint that I found among the paint samples at Lowe's. Then I made random swirly patterned designs with gold glitter glue and wrapped all of that in a layer of cheesecloth which I had dipped in acrylic metallic paint. 

Next I took a quilting iron and pressed it against some crayola crayons in various shades and let it drip onto a sheet of newsprint; using the iron to then swirl the drips around. After the crayon wax dried, I cut the newsprint into leaf shapes.

The hydrangea blossom itself is made from randomly tearing magazine photos selected for their colors so I could create a range of tonal values from light to dark. I accented selected blossoms with glitter glue and gold fabric paint, outlined the leaves in fabric paint and then, of course, splattered the entire piece in a wash of gold metallic paint. Fun!!!

Oh, and did you notice my new signature? I developed that while launching a self-study course on the art of Zentangles. More about that in a future post. ;)