Slow down...

Its funny how things evolve.  I now go online to be inspired.  Through the help of Pinterest I am able to connect visually with other like-minded people.  On a good day inspiration fills me, I may jot a few things down , go through my digital files of photos I have taken and may even clean my art room.  Suddenly,  sometimes without warning I pull our a blank canvas, some scraps of paper and boom I begin to CREATE.  As if a damn is releasing the excess water.  I am now better at anticipating these moments and try to be stocked with various supplies for when inspiration does hit me.  I am also learning the art of balancing as well, so my family doesn't hate my art like an unwanted stepchild.  (All children should be wanted and cherished, even the ones names ART!)

Last week I had reversed, and made 11x14 color copies of some various photos and hung them up in my art room.  I had a feeling of what I wanted to say with each and then when the words hit I wrote the quotes down on paper.  Then the background came to me and I started collaging.  While one dried I created the second.  I went back and forth between the two.

This was the first one I finished again thinking of my daughter and her new found love for all things country and my love for old trucks and country landscape with a good country song playing, this one came easy.  Being again inspired by the artist Mae Chevrette I challenged myself to try and paint my own handwriting, giving room for forgiveness for its not so perfect lettering.

The second one I finished was a photo of a friends daughter. Her sweet daughter had the newly acquired skill of running and loved the game where she would run from one point into her mothers arms.  It was a heartwarming game to watch and the photo was a result of that afternoon.  When looking at the image I remembered what seemed a lifetime ago. When my teenage daughters were that small and the similar games we played. At the time it just seemed  a part of our daily lives only to realize now that it is but one of my fond memories.  That was my inspiration behind this next piece.

After finishing these two pieces this past weekend, I see how I am evolving even with my newly discovered process of emulsion transfers.  Suddenly I see things in layers.  The joy of this particular process is seeing the progress that the actual tangible layering with Mod Podge and gel mediums has.  By having to let it dry in the inter um, then spraying it with water and rubbing off the excess paper, you start to wonder what of the image with stay and what bits of the layer behind will shine through. It brings me back to the thrill of developing in the darkroom.  Like the darkroom, after trial and error the finished piece reveals itself to you.