APPLIQUE PAINTBOX-I LOVE APPLIQUE

AT LAST....A FINISH

THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN

Painted, bordered and ready to hang. There is lots for me to be proud of in this hanging-my first real inktense project. I learn so much and had fun playing with different techniques.

Here are some closeups. One of the things I like most is the treatment of the rock wall. I just sat there and did it-I had no idea what I was doing. I found a likely black and white drawing to a rock wall, expanded and manipulated it, drew it behind my birds and flowers in a heavy inktense pencil line. I then made a wash with inktense block scrapings and water and used this to wash over the pencil lines making them softer and also giving the edges of the blocks some demension. I also like the variation in color in the buds, a technique I learned as I went along.

Birds were the hardest part for me to paint. I practiced and practiced on the sateen fabric. I had to use the same kind of fabric to practice so the end would be the same. Different fabrics yield different results. The bee on the orange flower is appliqued on as a broderie perse-didn't trust myself to be successful at that tiny level.

I love how the butterflies turned out.

The marking on these birds came out very super. After I photographed the finished piece, I wondered if the paving stones should be a darker color to stand out more against the flowers which are in front of them. I may go back and do so but a finish is a finish so I may not.

This bird is one of two catbirds. We have these all summer in our yard. Interesting quirk of catbirds-they lay their eggs in other birds nests and just abandon them to the care of the parents of that nest. The catbirds nestlings are generally bigger and sometimes push the actual babies of the parents out of the nest. Not very nice!

The center piece with rabbit and bird waterer. I painted a couple of birds flying in the distance in the sky of this section. This gives the whole work a different aspect. The distant birds gives the impression of distance which begs the question Which is the actual "Secret Garden". Is it in the foreground with all the flowers and the pathways in different directions or is it the one beyond the door. I love this ambiguity.

Not my favorite birds but okay. I like the flora climbing the wall.

The yellow and blue bird is my absolute favorite. I love how I managed to blend his wing colors. He is so cheerful. Your can see the rock wall nicely in this photo

Center bottom and the catbird mate.

Close up of the door painting created by rubbing an inktense block against the sateen. Again, I just thought I would try as I had become more intimate with how inktense would work. I was flabbergasted at the effect this made. Do you like my wrought iron?

You really can't tell in the photos but the border fabric is some kind of grunge fabric which has lots of the same colors in it. Even so, the purples and green tones are missing from the photo.

One finish down, two to go before I let myself begin my new project. Arrggh!

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I want to remind everyone that my painting is not an original. I adapted from a pattern I ordered from and English designer: RaggedyRuffDesigns. She has wonderful patterns and you can find her on Etsy.