Mail Art

This is a mail art piece. I bought an actual postcard from my hometown and then created a piece over top of it. It will be interesting to see the results after it is mailed.

"Anonymous "

This is another weaving piece with two pieces of notebook paper. I once again sketched out a drawing prior to painting in watercolor. I find this really helpful as notebook paper is extremely unforgiving. Working off a sketch tightens and refines the paintings. I don't think I would use it in every instance, sometimes looser is better, but it is very useful nevertheless.

"Drowning"

In this piece is also a byproduct of Monday's painting. I made a color copy of the original piece and then brushed clean water over the paper. This caused the ink to bleed and soften. I then wove this together with a piece of notebook paper. I am really pleased with the way the text on the white paper becomes more texture than writing, and the way that in turn interacts with the image of the face. I also find it fascinating how many different things can result from one orginal piece.

"Boy in Gray, Orange, and Red"

The two pieces from my last two post seem even more intriguing when placed next each other as a diptych. So, I uploaded an images of the pieces next to each other as well.

"Boy in Orange and Red"

I made a simple black and white photocopy of yesterday's painting. This resulted in a completely different image. I then painted over it with watercolor to strengthen the grayscale image. It was a unsophisticated process, but the results surprised and delighted me.

"Boy in Gray"

This is another painting on yellow legal pad paper. This time I sketched a face out in pencil and then added the watercolor over top. This add a nice linear quality to contrast with the more organic brush strokes. The pencil also adds some detail--it makes the entire piece appear to be rendered more tightly, though the paint itself is less rendered. Originally I was going to cut this piece up, like I have been doing with my other pieces lately; but I founds this piece engaging enough on its own, and I did not want to loose that by cutting it up.

"Intertwined"

This concept of weaving images together is an idea I tried once, really liked, and then never tried again, for some odd reason. Inspired by the works of Curtis Mann, (http://www.curtismann.com/) who takes found photographs and alters them into his own fine art pieces, I came back to my old idea. For this piece I painted an abstract watercolor piece in yellows and oranges and wove in a page from a magazine, which I had painted on with acrylic paint and drawn on with marker. One piece of the photograph is simply glued on top, rather than woven in, to add contrast and give the piece a more obvious focal point.

This idea of collage or appropriation is something I have always enjoyed, and this has only rekindled my interest.