Sparkle

The second batch of mixed media distressed paintings for “The Gay Dictionary Series” is done, and photographed.  I’ve also started on the third batch. Sparkle is one of many words listed as synonyms to "gay" in the various Thesauruses I've checked.  It also just happened to be first in the stack when I took the photographs of all twelve finished artworks.   

The glitter border is not glitter.  Instead, I photographed glittery fabric, printed the image, measured, cut and pasted the paper strips into the artwork.  The center square is a mishmash of Fourth of July sparkler photographs, set type, paint and torn paper.   The rest of the painting has about 5 layers of printed images of set type and distressed paint as well as actual layers of real distressed paint. Between working in actual physical space and the virtual space of the computer the artwork has about fifteen layers, virtual and actual.  Like the other small works in this series, Sparkle is 8" x 8," and I will float it in a 10" x 10" metal frame.

I enjoy working back and forth between both spaces, virtual and real, as well as the many steps necessary to the mixed media distressed paint process I’ve developed over the past twenty-five years.