Crackle Paste

10"x10" clayboard cradled panel, acrylic, collage, light molding paste, shell, thread and crackle paste. I've always had mixed results with crackle paste but this time it behaved and gave me some very nice cracks. I've been exploring several new materials and glazes on three small panels. I had plans to do some "pours" of color but I've all but run out of space...I may come back to that idea.

My subject is about birds, not any birds but the ones that visit me on my deck. I don't claim to recognize different types of birds (seagulls are easy for me!) but mostly little brown and blue ones. I've been taken by them and their busy lives. Instead of painting...I find myself watching them and writing in my journal: I am neither an intruder or a comrade I am a witness to life here in my red and green leafed trees.

Have a great week!

Going West

8"x8" canvas, monotype, acrylic, screen, sandpaper, tissue paper and crackle paste. I've used crackle paste before with mixed results....this time I applied it very thick and with color mixed into the paste. I began with two prints but along the way I salvaged two parts of two prints of the compass. Things sometimes disappear in the process of art making.
With my meditating and writing I was reminded of the years I spent living in the Central Valley of California...years raising our two sons. The winters in this area are damp, cold with dense fog and the summers have blistering heat. Some of the phrases from my writing are written on the sides of the canvas:" Hot dry days sinking into cool" and "Wind binding my heart tired and frail". The California delta has it's beauty and wildlife but I could never feel settled or at home,yet we lived there over 18 years. When the time was right, when the boys were on their own, and as a widow, I sold everything and moved to the beach...a good decision for me and I found" home" here.