Ireland Inspired Pieces

So I’m back in the states after a wonderful trip to Scotland and Ireland. I spent a lot of time viewing the local landscape, flora, architecture and rock through a camera  lens.  I love being digital- I am not a good photographer, so I take lots and weed through and delete later.  Now home, I took several hours pouring through my 4 million photos, and was dying to use them. So of course, with a show in three weeks, I'm going to try something completely new. That’ll keep things exciting:)  I narrowed it down to a couple photos, had them printed, glued them onto a panel, wrapped the imagery around the edge, and now going to apply wax layers with more texture and Imagery.  There are many more to come, but I started with this bridge on the Dingle peninsula which we crossed at the beginning of a long and winding walk about on a misty afternoon.  

I obscured the water a bit, then pumped up the moss with some green texture. 

 I transferred on a topographical map of the peninsula on the lower left side, and wrapped it around the edge.  added more texture and  stained some of the relief areas.

-and I MAY be done…. 

gonna let it sit for a couple days and see if I still agree…

The Commission Process: The End Result! Shirley and Roger

So when I left Shirley and Rogers commission last week, I thought it was looking good- but then I had been staring at it for days, so wanted some fresh eyes to reevaluate it.  

This week- I still liked what I saw! 

(Small hoop and hurray- that doesn't always happen) 

But still felt some refinements were in order- accentuate some areas, contrast others, bring out some curves and edges, fade others.  So at this point everything was happening on a subtler level- no throwing wax today! So I spent the afternoon with a needle tool incising into the wax surface, and then staining afterwards.  The next day I used pan pastel and the the heat gun to again fine tune some colors and areas.  

From a distance, there is no huge difference, but up close-there are many subtleties either highlighted or removed.  Call me anal- but I  feel strongly that a piece should work on all levels- from a distance, in your heart, and  those who get up close and study it should be rewarded.

  

  

In the end, it was worth it. I delivered it today, and Shirley and Roger were both pleased.  We set it against the wall to check for color, and liked what we saw! 

We went out and celebrated with an alfresco lunch and a glass o wine... 

Done!! 

Thank you Shirley and Roger!