Never throw away a painting…!
That has been a concept of mine for many years. Of course, sometimes you just have to, but…
… many times you will find little gems in those old paintings you thought were disasters.
A few years ago I experimented with producing background textures in acrylic paint for possible collage paintings. Nothing seemed to come of that so the sheets of “test” paintings were set aside.
Years later I looked at the sheets again and went over them with a 6″ square matt looking for interesting pieces. I found some areas that looked promising and cut them out producing a small stack of acrylic paintings on 140# CP watercolor paper. I found that some areas had thick layers of paint and others had several thin layers which had been scraped through a few times with the end of brush handles while the paint was still wet.
This year I looked at the collection of little paintings once more. Some were trimmed to fit a 4 x 6 area on blank Strathmore Photo Mount greeeting cards.
Using liquid gold acrylic “ink” I dabbed on some spots and strokes to depict crude Christmas trees.
Here are two examples:
I love the way the gold shimmers against the darker background – but it does not show up that way here.
Now there is something that no one has seen before!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Arty
PS – 2011 Art Class at Old Fire House Art Center in Longmont
Ron Smalley
