In one of my last posts, I talked a bit about some aluminum flashing that I've been painting and collaging onto.
Another trip to Lowes last week turned up large, flat, pre-cut sheets of aluminum of a heavier grade than the flashing, and I'm happy to report that after a good sanding, this stuff makes an amazing substrate for mixed-media work!
(Untitled, 24" x 24" Aluminum, Monoprinted Stacked Journaling, Collage, Acrylics)
This piece consists of layers and layers and layers of monoprinted Stacked Journaling in black, white, purple, orange and yellow acrylic paint. More layers of transparent paint glazes were then applied, wiped off and reapplied until I was happy with the background. I collaged deli papers painted with more SJ to the surface and then brought the whole thing together with one final glaze of paint.
It will be hung by drilling wood screws directly through the front of the piece into wooden blocks which will be positioned on the back. A hanging wire will then be strung from the wooden blocks. Yes, I know I will have to go directly through the painting and collage to achieve this- no worries, that was always my intent when working with the aluminum: I love the industrial look of it.
You'll have to excuse the poor photo quality, however- I usually roll up my garage door to photograph work on my design wall with indirect sunlight, but it's hummingbird season and yesterday when I rolled up the door, three of the little guys flew in for a visit and a snoop around, and got stuck in my studio for almost four hours!
I will have to leave the door down until they stop flocking, which could take another couple of months. So my photos are catch-as-catch-can for the moment!
Also in my last post I discussed Curl, a 3-D art object I was creating with the roll of aluminum flashing. I finished it over the weekend and I love it!
It is nearly six feet in length, and measures 10" from top to bottom.
It is two sided- orange-y/avocado on one side...
... and yellow/green on the other...
These pieces were done almost exactly like the piece at the top of this post, but I eliminated the heavy glazing in favor of letting the metal shine through in the background.
It turns out that Curl requires certain conditions to be displayed properly, though... specifically, it needs to be lit either from directly above or directly beneath the piece, otherwise the curve of the flashing causes heavy shadows inside the piece and the two-sided effect is lost.
However, this was so much fun to make, and turned out so well, that I'll be creating more of them. In the meantime, my husband and I want to display it and since we don't have a good pedestal for it, we will hang it as you see above, as one long piece stretched across the wall. We will mount it to the wall using mirror clips so we won't damage either side in the hanging process.
Happy creating!
