Emergence III

Remember this eye from an earlier post? Well - it totally changed from the one above to the one below.

It all happened when I added silver leaf to the painting below, a piece of art lovely in and of itself.

I looked at it with some of the silver leaf adhered and suddenly I had a very different image in my head that wanted to be expressed. 

So, the colors changed, I antiqued some of the silver, added layers of texture, added more silver leaf, had paint dripping and spattering, went over some areas with graphite to bring out the texture and totally got lost in the process of adding and subtracting and balancing. 

The resulting painting fills me with joy and feels totally connected to who I am. 

Emergence III
Mixed media painting on 11 x 14 inch wrapped canvas

During the process I was thinking about my art and how it is becoming more "me." I am realizing that the paintings I am most drawn to in others and in my own art are those that have a certain amount of power, that make a statement.

I have now painted over every canvas I own on which I had painted something cute. Cute isn't me. Too sweet isn't me (just ask Daniel...). Sentimental isn't me. Vintage isn't me. Frilly isn't me. Even as a child I was a tomboy. In my clothes, I prefer clean lines, timeless styles, no frills and definitely no tiny patterns. The same with how we decorate our home.

And now that I am truly starting to express myself in my art, more and more those paintings or drawings are reflections of the very unique blend that is me.

There is still a sweetness about her, she has a kind face ... and at the same she emerges with the unshakeable knowledge of who she is!

An experiment...

Before...

Ever since my good friend Anne (El Milagro Studio) suggested silver leaf for a different painting, it's been on my mind and finally today, I got the materials out and tried. I wanted to try it on a painting that I didn't like very much, which was the one above. Something about just never agreed with me, so I decided to apply silver leaf to the heavily textured background to see how it would adhere.

... and after!

Well, after I did that (which worked like a charm, by the way!), I started tinkering with the woman and decided to rouse her from her meditation and have her be present with a lot more color all around. Suddenly I like her much more. Now somehow I can connect to her!

I still have to seal the silver leaf and we'll see how that works, but if everything goes smoothly, I'll start adding it to my three pod woman (click here to see the first two - although they've changed a bit).

Maybe I'll have more to show you tomorrow already!