Layers of Texture with Threshold Masks

I’m still layering textures and color in my collages, wondering where to take it next. I’ve worked out a method, using light thresholds as masking layers, that lets me add more colors. Here’s a breakdown of a recent piece I worked on. I started with a shot of Waverly Station in Edinburgh, from my recent trip….

Texture with Gelatin Prints

After the usual trial & error, I finally managed a printing session at home with a gelatin plate, and the textured results were worth the wait. I followed the steps and tips on Linda Germain’s blog, Printmaking without a Press. Biggest tip: natural-foods-store vegan gelatin will NOT do. Oh, what a blobby mess that was!…

Think Less

Sometimes the only way to act is not to think all the consequences through. Alain de Botton

Keeping in Touch

Are email lists worth it? I’m going to find out. What do you think?

Exploring a Theme: Documentation

I’m thinking about documentation as my theme for this year. I love incorporating text into my pieces, and as I thought about it, documentation pervades our lives. From birth certificates to death notices, passports and transcripts, we are a collection of documented events. The concept also links to my genealogy and history interests, as well…

Lose the Fear

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. Joseph Chilton Pearce via Randel Plowman

Creating on a Deadline

The annual artEAST fundraiser 150′ of Art is upon us again. I love the idea: artEAST members produce works within the same 12″x12″ format for an online auction (running May 6-29 this year), and I have happily participated before, with my piece Verdant Haze. Of course, that time, I already had a piece I loved,…

Landscape as Portrait

I agreed to take on a commission for dear friends, to commemorate a milestone birthday. I was given lots of great material from the family as input, but was stumped on how to incorporate it all. I didn’t want an all-collage piece. But my editing background came to the rescue, and I’m paring it down…