With Art in Motion, I share the visual journey through the life of one of my paintings — from the blank canvas, to the first splash of inspiration, all the way to the finished piece. Enjoy to the fullest!
Click here to see all the posts in this ongoing project series.
Blank canvas. It's bigger than my usual ... 20x20. Starting out, I didn't have a vision except that this painting would be for personal use in my home, not for commercial use. I wanted to write a love note to John and True.
Layer #1 with paint drips (achieved with a water bottle) and paper towel texture (blotting wet paint with a flat paper towel). Super fast - anything to get color on the canvas. No thinking, just moving.
Layer #2. Lots of paint splatter and working fast. Added some paper - glued down with gel medium. I painted this quick message to myself between layers as a reminder to be free and work fast. The faster, the better, the freer for me - especially in the beginning stages of a painting.
Next layer. Wiped away my message to self. Added more paper, more drips, more paint. Used my hands and no brushes. Moving, quickly. Not making any real choices, just picking up paper and paint and adding them to canvas. Lots of rubbing, dripping, wiping, mark making. Also turning canvas about every five minutes - a great trick I learned from my pal Flora.
Next layer - added lots of white. I was feeling the bright white. Went with it. Also chose an orientation for the canvas - what would be top, what would be bottom. Used gel medium to glue on some vintage lace.
This is what emerged about an hour after starting the blank canvas. Lots of layers in there involving stenciling, gluing papers and fabrics and lace with gel medium, oil pencils, spray bottle drips, spray paint, paper towel textures, and more using several of my favorite supplies.
I chose to make something out of the flower in the upper right that was peaking out of some paper that I glued on. Kept working with that, adding pieces of fabric and drawing and collage elements around it until it felt like it was an icon of some kind - an anchor for the painting. That specific part of the painting began to feel and look like a sunshine flower so I added some more flowers around the entire canvas with white and gold paint. This is what I love about working fast. The painting begins to reveal itself to you and you don't really have a plan in mind - trusting that it will unfold.
The finished piece. A love note to John and True. This one will go in our home...it's been a long time since I made a piece just for me, for us, and not for specific commercial use. Feels good. More to come!
PS: Here's what my space looked like while creating this baby.
Facebook: 
