Do You See Her ??

Late last night I had the beginnings of a headache.  Disgruntled and tired I tried to meditate on my Chi Machine in an attempt to get rid of my headache.  I was sure it had to be from a tight neck.  And while the machine helped I found myself still not wanting to go to sleep.  

So I grabbed an 8x10 piece of birch wood I had laying around and some payne's gray paint.  I squirted some of the paint onto the wood and smeared it around with my hand and a paper towel.  I didn't put any gesso on the wood and forgot how the wood soaks up the paint.  I used to paint this way and loved it.  You never know what will show up.  I also love the look of the wood grain coming through.  

So very quickly I noticed a face presented itself!  It is a side profile of what looks to be a woman.  I took a black crayon and shaded around the image to bring it forward more.  

I was happy to be playing with paint again and I feel like my work on wood with these images that always seem to appear feels the most like "me".

Do you see her too??

Snow Angel . . . New Abstract

"Snow Angel"

acrylic glazes on 5x5 inch birch wood

prints available on etsy

This was hubby's idea. The other night he told me I should paint a snow angel for one of my glazed abstracts. Those are his favorite paintings of mine. Typically I have been going to the canvas and just letting images appear. But for this one I did a light sketch on the gessoed wood and used a glaze of payne's gray around the outside of the angel. I used paper towel to wipe away any gray that got on the angel image which ended up being the scratch marks you see on the wings and above the head. I added some charcoal pencil at the end to shade and outline the angel details.

Although I sketched the image on this one I do see two other images in the top left and top right which for me looks like more angels! Do you see them?

In The Cove . . . New Abstract

"In The Cove"

acrylic glazes on 5x5" birch wood

These colors inspired me to think of the ocean. I don't normally go for colors this bold but thought I would give it a try to see what they looked like glazed on the wood. I used magenta and phalto blue (green shade) and I love them together! I also added some water soluble crayons in areas for shading. I mixed in some titanium white to lighten things up and to make waves on the left side.

In this one I found an image on the right that to me looks like a couple hugging while leaning against a rock wall. The title popped into my head as I was painting. It looks like a nice place to be. I really do enjoy creating these abstracts and feel a freedom I don't allow myself doing other types of painting.

For those of you celebrating Christmas I wish you a wonderful evening and a memorable day tomorrow spent with those you love!

"Embrace" . . . Acrylic Glazes on Birch Wood

"Embrace"

acrylic glazes on 5x5" birch wood

prints available in my etsy shop

I am hoping that you can tell where I got the title from for this one! Feeling inspired by my last piece with its image that came out and spoke to me I longed to try another! So on another piece of birch I used the same colors but added titanium white this time and began layering. I was trying to not "look" for something and just be random about it. I stepped away for awhile and then went back to it. I felt that it just wasn't done. Then when I added the last layers of payne's gray over on the right I noticed that an image appeared. I saw a couple standing in an embrace.

Once I saw that I immediately connected to this piece. I am hoping you see what I see!

Angel In The Shadows . . . Do You See What I See?

"angel in the shadows"

acrylic glaze on 5x5" birch wood

prints available in my etsy shop

Saturday I asked my hubby for a piece of birch wood. He always has some laying around in the garage. I wanted to try painting on a wood surface for the first time. So he brought me a 5x5 inch piece of scrap he had.

I added a coat of gesso first and when it was dry just tried adding some paint. I made glazes of my two favorite colors of the moment payne's and burnt sienna. I was just practicing adding paint to this new surface to see what it would do. I immediately felt the difference in how the paint moved on the wood and when I tried blending the paint I ended up just smooshing it around. I noticed that it gathered in some areas and wiped away on others. I liked how it looked with the wood grain showing through the glaze. It was all random. I was in no way hoping for a piece of art to come out of this. At one point I became very frustrated that I couldn't move the paint the same way as on a canvas wondering if I even liked painting on a wood surface.

I walked away and left it be till later on that night. When I went to go check on it my hubby got to it first and told me he loved it. I thought he was crazy until I looked at what came through. We both saw the image of a woman to the right who looks as if she is leaning up against a wall. Below her looks like rocks and water. I was shocked at the image and the depth that this piece has all without me trying to do anything but smear some paint around. It almost looks ghostly to me. It looked completely different to me when it was dry. This has become one of my favorite pieces!

So tell me . . . what do you see?