the sum of its parts
Tag: mod podge
the magic of color
waking up to a new week
Y’huh, I know it’s Tuesday… but don’t we all get those weeks that won’t kick-start properly?
Ok, so I’m up n running now! Reflecting on the latest page-a-day pages….
I took advantage of Satuday’s sunshine to photograph my pages in the garden (reminded as I type this as the rain pours outside my window!), so Saturday’s page with the typewritten hi, was only just begun. Just as soon as the lighting conditions permit I’ll bring you up to speed with the latests 😀
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visual echos
Thursday’s page focused on utilising bits of the dyed paper through stacking n stitching, to exploring cut and torn shapes
The echoing shapes from previous pages are now just indentations. To continue the theme of the swirling frond shape that has lasted all week I cut a stencil from acetate and used this with ink and then acrylic glaze for a subtle sheeny shape here n there.
The roughed up surface, sheen of the glaze and the warm earthy colors put me in mind of a leathery effect.
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layers of lumpiness
As Sunday’s cut-out page was backed with card, turning over to Monday’s page, meant incorporating two big rectangles of card bang in the middle of the page. I often follow the adage If you can’t hide it, make a feature of it, so this page was destined to be layered in a chunkier fashion than before.
Collaged into disguise with layers of dyed paper, bits n scraps of leftovers from old projects (those swirl shapes keep on coming back!), unified with layers of tissue paper.
As there was a little bit of left over gold card, I made a block with the day and date, written in dead biro (no ink, but still a useful tool)
After accidentally modpodging too far over the edges, as an exercise in ‘let’s see what happens’, I brushed modpodge over the card, then red ink. Scraping back when it was nearly dry revealed the shiny gold again.
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“Obstinate & Concious”
I’ve shared some little snips and bits of my doodlings with you over the last few days to introduce you to my projects. Today I thought I’d explain a little more of how some pages come about.
I advocate the belief that art materials can be made of pretty most anything. Beyond “making use”, “recycling” or other worthy intents, this is closer to a manic scavenging, edged with disproportionate glee, in discovering a source of free material that is unwanted by the world.
The basis of this page is a case in point. I work in an office, everyday there’s a delivery of interestingly patterned paper. Business envelopes.
Opened up, inside outed to see the squiggly abstract patterning, the best of the bunch get flattened and hoarded up for later.
I’d already dyed some envelopes, by layering them in a plastic tray (yup, scavenged from the kitchen) with dilute Procion dyes and inks in shades of blues and green. Purely experimental. Or just mental? Whatever, in their soggy state the pre-gummed bits re-gummed themselves to their neighbours. This page made use of the scrappy torn bits, picked apart shreds + the borders around the windows, (window frames?) deemed too bitty to save for future who-knows-whattery.
Collaging with Mod Podge, I built up a background for doodling on. Before it dried I added more color with little sprinklings of dry Brusho powder in gamboge, lemon and orange. Swishing with water got the colors to liven up a bit before being left to dry.
Layered up 3-4 deep in places, the overlaps and natural crunkling of the paper caused by heavy dosing with liquid, gave an undulating surface. Less camera-friendly (at least at the time of light I chose), but pleasing to draw on as the contours and furrows guide the lines on which the patterns build.
The doodlings take on a life of their own in a setting like this. Torn edges and inky tide marks sew the seeds from which the lines grow. The padded quality of the surface make biro doodles dimensional as the pressure of the ballpoint makes indented patterns. Marker pen sits on the surface and gives iridescent sheen at the right angle of light. Felt pens glide over the surface and make subtle marks.
Torn words grow new meanings, Private & Confidential became Obstinate & Conscious.
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