inks and gesso and white Sharpie Paint Pen on w/c paper coated with gloss medium
It bubbles up, all unruliness and glory. . .
The impulse is not the master of the outcome. It is merely the little finger that pushes the stick out from under the rock that topples the boulder that rolls crashing down the incline, that raises dust and debris in its colorful wake. . .that innocent little finger that understands none of this, but offers itself at just that moment when the mountain is ready to move and paint a new beginning to a marvelous story, which has never been told before.
I think of myself as this little finger at times, the mountain at other times, and on rare occasions, the master of outcome. In fact we are all of the above.
Many years ago I took a workshop with Marilyn Hughey Phillis. She initiated me into the world of fluid acrylics and abstraction. We were instructed to bring paper that had been coated with 3 layers of gloss medium. Remembering this I tried it out with the Monday Afternoon Muses recently.
When paint hits the glossy surface it flows, it skates lightly, it responds uniquely. Painting on a glossy surface does not necessarily result in shiny paintings, but it extends the dynamics of fluid acrylics and inks into new territories. In the painting above I used a brush only to paint wet shapes onto the surface and otherwise used a dropper to apply inks and my fingers to blend them with the gesso to create subdued passages. A spray of alcohol into wet ink created the circle shapes on the bottom and the white dots in the black on the top were total serendipity (meaning I have no idea how that happened).
Another one painted on a gloss medium surface and spritzed with alcohol just before it dried. I have a third sheet of paper with a glossy surface that is calling out to me to do another! Want to try it?
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