Sunday, April 26, 2015

If You Think You Can Grasp Me.....

I happened to be looking at the wonderful spread Chris recently posted, and saw a mixed media site I'd not known about.....and this month's challenge invoked the use of poetry.  Bliss!!

I
April is one of my favorite months in the states though certainly not for the weather this year, lol!

No, I love April because it is our National Poetry Month.  The publishing house Knopf even has poem-a-day email service for anyone wishing a bit of daily literary artistry in their inbox throughout the month.

I collect bits of writing and poetry that appeal to  me when I come upon them, and some time earlier this year I found a wonderful piece from Adrienne Rich, one of my very favorite writer/poets.  The work references the flow of diversity in an individual's life as a river delta, and this has stuck in my head for some reason.  I've been looking for a reason to incorporate this poetic slice into my work, and the challenge at Art Journal Journey seemed a good fit.

The delta analogy resonated when I happened to notice the beautiful flow of packing paper I'd left out for my cat to play with.


And I already had in my mind a background of blue sky and green fields, through which a river might flow.  Basic composition in mind, I started with tearing dictionary pages and adhered them with Ranger's Glue N Seal to a piece of Bristol Vellum.  

I randomly brushed on clear gesso, and then applied regular gesso with a dry brush.


I then colored the whole lot with watery washes of Golden's Smalt Hue and Green Gold transparent acrylics, mixing the two colors in the middle.


I crumpled a piece of copy paper to emulate the flow of the original inspiring packing paper.  My first attempt didn't suit, so I spritzed it with water and continued....but the consequential paper breakdown was not what I wanted here.  

So I started again, this time crumpling the copy paper first to break the fibers down a bit, and then folding it into accordion pleats, very imprecisely - I wanted an organic feel.  After flattening it out again, I sprayed the paper with Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire and Weathered Wood for the blues, and Cracked Olive, Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn for the greens - all mixed with generous sprays of water.


Once dry, I again casually fan-folded it, and twisted the middle.  I adhered it to the background with hot glue.


I did not like the faint colors of the dried piece, however, so covering the background with deli paper, I used Vivian's dousing technique by spraying the folded paper heavily with water and then applying Dylusions Dirty Martini and After Midnight sprays directly from the bottle with the spray tips.




The poetry slice (and attribution) were printed onto tissue paper, and adhered to the page with Glue N Seal and lots of water.  




Thanks so much for visiting, and please do leave a comment if you've time - I love hearing what you think and appreciate your critique!

xx Lynn

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful page, you went to a lot of trouble to get your page just as you wanted it. Thanks for joining us at Art Journal Journey, Valerie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just GORGEOUS! I love all about it!
    Thank you very much for joining us at Art Journal Journey!
    xxx
    Susi

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful pages to illustrate that great quote!
    Very original and such a gorgeous color palette too.
    oxo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such an interesting post Lynn and I loved following your process with all its ups and downs. The final result is wonderful, love how vibrant the colours have turned out and the interesting textures achieved, a wonderful "home" for the poem!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful work - I found it so interesting following your journey to get the page just as you wanted. The colours are beautiful and I like what I've read of the poem - I'm off to discover more of her work!

    ReplyDelete
  6. OMGoodness, I love the gorgeous vibrant colours you used and the wonderful background you created! The poem is excellent. Anne x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Lynn
    Well I was pleased to read that you did not give up on this make after the first try.
    I am also loving the poetry you have added.
    You appear to be thinking conceptually in this piece which is not easy to do. Well done it is unique and thought provoking.
    Smiles:)
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful page, and lovely to read about how it came into being... the ideas and the words are just as powerful as the visuals.
    Alison xx

    ReplyDelete

Due to hacking, alas, all comments will be moderated by Experiments in Paper.