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Sunday, May 16, 2010

Leaf Patterns - a Doodle - I mean a Mixed-Media!

This painting started as a "loosen up project" in a watercolor class several years ago.  We put gauze-like stringy fabric on, torn pieces of rice paper on, threw paint on, and just did something wild.  Mine was so wild I didn't know what to do with it.  I'm not very good at abstract art - I just have to make something representational out of it.  So, I tried to see what shapes there were as a starting point.  I only saw a few leaf shapes.  So I invented some elsewhere.  I used waxy colored pensils and sometimes paint too, to add darkness and depth here and there.  My husband had the idea to make a waterdroplet.  Good idea!  Now it has an "up" and a "down".

While doodling with this, my mind wandered.  I remembered high school days - the books we were issued - we couldn't mark them up, and we were supposed to cover them.  We used cut-up brown paper grocery bags, inside-out, and folded them over the cover of the book.  You could really make a "statement" with the doodles you covered it with.  If you were really good, it was an icebreaker - strangers would look at your doodles and admire them and talk to you.  Funny - why am I remembering this?

4 comments:

Euphoria said...

I asked my watercolour teacher how to paint an abstract painting and she told me to remember smells, textures, moments from the past...
I´ts so strange to see this painting and read your words. I think this creation of yours is PERFECT, I like what you did and I think you should explore more. I´m sure there´s a lot more to show and I want to see it!!!
I love the colours you used and the shapes you invented.

ti-igra said...

Carolyn, hello!
This is a very beautiful picture and I believe that this is a cool design for book cover or notebook, or exercise book. May be this should be a one from twelve pages of a calendar ;-)
Also it reminded me of batik art!
Great work, Carolyn!!!

Carolyn Jean Thompson said...

Thank you for sharing your teacher's lesson, Kira. I never knew that, and it is helpful to me. And thank you Kira and Ti-Igra for the encouragement! Batik! I used to do batik 30 years ago! I now see the similarity.

Ida M. Glazier said...

I agree with the above comment by
Euphoria, and think your abstracts are very intersesting and well done. I have seen some in the past that you just couldn't look at for long at all. Yours are both peaceful and interesting. Color choices are nice and well done. You sure can ponder, and save an older work, and very well. Represtatinal art sueits me best, too, but also has its complexities.