STAINED (Weekly Art Project #20, inspired by the Alhambra)

 

The past few weeks in Adelaide have been discombobulating & consequently it has been hard for me to return to my WAP (Weekly Art Project) rythmn.

 I'd attempted to start on a project last week inspired by the stained glass window above.  The simplicity of design, luminosity of  colour & contrast to the plasterwork are worthy of exploring. I got part way through & just couldn't maintain focus, so instead of  pushing myself that little bit further, I changed what I was working on.  There are definitely times to push through an energy hiccup & times when changing the activity is the wiser thing to do. 

This week however, I was in a much better frame of mind & was keen to return to my usual practice. Besides, I had a new toy I wanted to play with.

A very generous friend had just given me these beautiful Caran D'Ache water soluble crayons and I was desperate to try them out. 

Could I use them in a design that represented the stained glass?  

Why not?!

I started with a trial sample just to see how they'd flow on fabric. They are so smooth & were a delight to use. I liked the way they highlighted the weave of the cotton. Quite by chance some cotton thread got caught under one section & effectively created a raised surface for a rubbing.  I liked that added texture it provided so thought I might include that in my WAP project.

I then got the paintbrush & water out & applied to the crayon...oh my...yes indeed! What fun & possibilities. My head was bursting with the potential these could have in my textile work.

It was time to move from sample to art project, so I began by drawing freehand the design I've used before.  I made a bit of a whoopsie & consequently over did the black crayon to hide it!  Oh well....I'd do something with it later. Here's how it progressed...

I had placed loose coils of cotton thread under the blue sections & managed a 'rubbing' effect there. In the centre I thought I'd try my Caran D'Ache water RESISTANT crayon with the water soluble one layered over it.

Three different greens are layered here & I really like the way they look.

Time to add the water, & I'm very pleased with how the middle resist has worked out, I also like the subtlety of the 'painted' design in the green sections.

Stitch is added to that heavy black outline in the centre to give it a bit more interest & soften the impact.

At this stage, I'm very conscious that this project is proving to be more about exploring a product than about responding to the stained glass of the Alhambra.  

Was I happy to leave it at this point?  I could argue that the textural elements related to the intense textural qualities of the plaster work, but I recognise that that is wrangling words to justify what I've been doing, rather than respecting my initial intent.

What to do then, to hint at that luminous, bright coloured glass?

I added more water to the blues, added some red & added a bit more colour to the centre. To me these changes definitely recall stained glass, whilst still retaining a textural quality.

The subject of 'finishing' artwork has been on my mind lately.  A comment in a novel about unfinished artwork being more intriguing than fully resolved work raises an important question - when is an artwork finished? When have we done enough?  We could also ask ourselves what we mean by 'finished' & is it the same as 'complete'? 

You'll notice that I didn't 'colour in' the linear sections in the design above in yellow.  I alluded to it with quick yellow lines as my attempt to try not finishing 'properly'!  It wasn't easy to leave those lines, but I actually think the piece is more interesting because of that in-completion. The focus is on the coloured spaces rather than the lines.

It will be interesting to see how these musings impact my future art making. Until next time...happy creating!