Thursday, September 29, 2011

Keeping It Small

Small works have been on my agenda for years, but I'm on a roll at present.  The following are part of a group done on paper and glued to canvas.  This procedure is quite time consuming but I rather like the way they present.

Three Arches

Passing The Red Moon
The paper has had several layers of gesso on the back and MANY layers of paint, and varnish, on the front before adhering to the canvas.  Then there are several more layers of varnish on the whole canvas.

When I say small... they are only 6 x 8 inches, on 8 x 10 canvas.

11 comments:

  1. Love these! Would you mind if I Tumbled one?

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  2. good morning Jo, wow the first piece is so interesting - so much for such a small painting :)

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  3. both look super!!!
    for some reason the gluing to the canvas part sounds really tricky to me...they look so smooth and wonderful!
    oxo

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  4. Wonderful colours, so rich with life! :)
    Ah and I see Robyn and Patty have been here too. So nice to see folks from the "artist tribe" again.

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  5. I always love your abstracts - so vivid and intriguing. I agree w/ Patty - gluing the art to a canvas sounds tricky though I'm sure if you use the right product, it's doable.

    Sometimes I wish I didn't feel the call of the TV because it makes me feel guilty - like I should be artful instead. So, having the sketchbook or working on tangles relieves my 'guilt' and I get to enjoy both things at once :)

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  6. This looks very interesting and makes me want to touch it. So much texture! Love it! :)

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  7. Jo - you asked about being a calligrapher to do Zentangles - absolutely not - I'm definitely not. And the nice thing is you don't have to be an artist either (though I think it helps to understand contrast in tone/shape etc). It's really just sitting down with a paper and pen and creating the patterns. There's a whole library of patterns and how-tos at www.tanglepatterns.com . Officially Zentangles are done on a 3.5" x 3.5" square "tile" of heavy paper, but I just work in my sketchbook and draw the occasional tile if I want to work in that format. Then, traditionally, you begin by dividing the tile up with a "string" - a random wandering line that might swirl and make shapes on the paper. Then you fill in each shape with a pattern. That's the basic process. It is fun and slightly addicting, and relaxing as the patterning takes over. Hope this isn't too much info, but since you expressed an interest, thought I'd share.

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  8. Jo, you ARE on a roll! These abstracts are wonderful, they are so bright and I love your meandering shapes. Thank you for your comment yesterday.

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  9. Amazing compositions.
    I love the boldness of your colors and textures.

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  10. Love, love, love "Passing the Red Moon"

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