Everything that excites me about producing art starts with COLOR! With the crayon resist pieces, the vibrant color comes from a wonderful “fancy” crayon called Sakura Expressionist Cray-Pas. Sakura Cray-Pas were designed to create colors and effects like oil paint and are a wonderfully versatile medium. I created those pieces in the show by drawing the flower or flowers first, then using the Cray-Pas to create the color. I prefer abstract art and I find that flowers drawn this big take on interesting abstract qualities. Also, I was not attempting to draw a realistic flower—the flower images I used, some being photos of my own flowers, were inspiration only for the images. In this medium, once I have all the Cray-Pas color I want, I apply Dr. Ph. Martin’s Watercolors (which are more like acrylic inks with very strong colors) over the whole piece with a brush. The wax in the Cray-Pas “resists” the watercolor, and the watercolor fills in any paper left white. Applying the watercolor totally changes the character of the piece, and some ink remains on top of the Cray-Pas color. By applying fixative, I can rework the piece as much as I want. Not only do you create lovely color results, but also it is really fun to do! I included 2 flower pieces that are purely Sakura Cray-Pas, without watercolor. These highlight the blending and beautiful color that you can achieve with these Cray-Pas.
In the acrylic/rubbing alcohol pieces, I mix acrylic paint with water, and acrylic paint with rubbing alcohol and pour the differently mixed paint onto the canvas, allowing them to interact. The interaction between the alcohol and the acrylic paint creates the amazing and unique colors. Another amazing feature that occurs, is that the alcohol causes the paint to actually move around on the canvas on its own! For me, this medium is truly color driven, although, as in the “Sunset” piece, I can create a theme. This is one of the most fun and unique techniques I have ever used.
In the acrylic “dirty pours”, I combine acrylic paint with a pouring medium, such as Floetrol, and silicone oil. This medium is completely abstract. While there are many ways to use this technique, I combine different pre-mixed colors into one large cup, place the canvas on top of the cup, flip the cup and canvas over, and release all the paint onto the canvas. I then tilt the canvas around to spread the paint and manipulate how the paint spreads. This technique produces unique patterns and colors, and is really fun to do.