Pouring over glass - part 2

 I found these photos after I posted the last pouring story. These tell the story even better. I found several empty glass vases on the shelf...all shapes and sizes. This was an unusual one so I took a lot of pictures.

Started with this...

One of the challenges is to try to find something that can hold this shape upside down. A paper cup should work since the lip of the vase won't touch the cup.

It was a little tricky to get the paint to run down the raised parts of this vase...it wanted to just go in the crevasses. I think I had to 'assist' it in a few places to get it started. I love to watch the paint run! It's very different on the sides from what it looks like near the the lip (bottom on the picture).

Here it is before the resin - the finish is a little dull. The lip looks shiny because that is the glass with the paint on the underside. It reminds me of the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.

Since I pour the paint on the bottom of the vase - the top of this picture - it has its own design. I love the 'surprise' when I turn it upside down after it is completed!

Here's another shape. This was an old wine glass that had an outdated logo on it. I scraped off the old paint. I didn't have anything to put it on, so it went on a cup. Bad move...  see what happened! Showing you all three sides - they are all so different.

I had to peel the cup off of this one!

Notice all the run off...I am fascinated by the drip patterns.

Here are two views of the glass after I got it off the cup.

And, here are these two after they have had two coats of resin.

More to come...

Pouring over glass - more experimenting!

 The acrylic pour paintings exhibit at the Y will come down at the end of the coming week. What fun it has been seeing the comments that people have written about what they have seen in these abstract shapes and colors.  Thanks to all who have jotted down a title or two.

I am now experimenting with something else. 

Everyone has a shelf full of glass vases  - someone sent you flowers in a glass vase, the flowers are long gone and the vase is taking up space on a shelf somewhere. Try pouring paint over them! Carefully wash the vase with alcohol and find a way to turn it upside down on something stable. Very important!

When I first tried this I was eager to just do it and took some short cuts. I wanted to get started so I just turned vases upside down over a paper or styrofoam cup. I put the cup on wax paper, put the vase on the cup...and started pouring lots of different colors. It was really fun!!! However, when the paint dried, the cup stuck to the vase. That took a little work to get them apart. This is my first vase...

When the paint dried, it had a matte finish. It looks dull.

It is recommended that all these pieces be finished with resin. I have put two coats of clear resin on this. It brightens the colors and it glows!

Here's another one. I began this one with some yellow and green paints and it looked awful. I switched to some white and red colors and then added a little dark green...just because. This one was on a cup also, but did not stick as much because the vase lip did not touch the cup. The paint could drip off. 

Here it is right side up. You can see the first pour - the greenish color on the inside. That's just looking through the glass - that's why it's shiny.

Here it is with its resin finish.

These next three are little - about 3 inches high. It was challenging trying to find something to hold them upside down...  They were fun to pour, but two of the three stuck to the surface.  I'll bet you can guess which ones!

Here are some close ups of how they turned out.

And, here they are in use! The picture is a little cluttered, 

but they looked so cute on our porch this past weekend.

I have lots more to share...some more of the process, some lessons learned and some fun successes! Check back in a week or so to see some more!

What do you see? Part 2

 The exhibit of some of my acrylic pour paintings at the Y in St. Michaels has been hanging for almost two weeks now. It has been fun hearing from people about what they see...and the fact that they comment at all.  But, most exciting is that I have sold some of the paintings! I never know if anyone will be interested in this type of art - it is really different from what usually is appreciated in this area. 

As an example,...the day I was taking two sold paintings off the wall to give them to a buyer, I was replacing them with two others. A Y patron came by and did some 'hmmm' staring at the artwork. I suggested to her that she take a look and see what she could see. She looked briefly at the wall and simple stated that she really liked seascapes and boat paintings. (I almost burst out laughing, but instead said something like I knew that these were really different!)

So, here is the rest of the exhibit.

This is "Swimming Upstream" that I blogged about a few weeks ago. 

I can't part with it yet. It is not for sale.

"Universe"? or you name it. 

Untitled - I always thought this had a Native American look to it.

"Space Dog" my daughter named this - she has a little white dog. 

This one has been sold.

My art group thought this had a UFO look about it. You name it...

I called this "White Flame" but it could be snow-capped mountain?

"Swimming with friends" The gallery wall at the Y is on the way to the pool. If you zoom in for a close up on this one you can see some really interesting texture looking effects.

I originally thought this looked like a rocky coast. 

My art group suggested "Magma."

I have no idea what this is. It was one of the early pours that I did. 

The colors are quite different and it has kind of grown on me.

These last four are not yet hanging, but are framed and ready if I need to replace any others that get sold. 

Some kind of a flower maybe?

Lots of color! 

I didn't sign this one because I think it could be hung in different directions!

Untitled - it certainly is blue...

These are unusual colors and I think very interesting.

The exhibit will be hanging for the month of September. Stop by and take a look up close!

What do you see?

This is the sign that I posted this week on the gallery wall at the St. Michaels Y. On September 1st I hung a solo exhibit of some of my acrylic pour paintings.

These paintings are abstract shapes and colors. As I have shown them to my art group and others, everyone sees something different in them. Titles for each painting limit what you see, so I left most of the exhibit untitled. 

I also posted another sign that suggested closing an eye, squinting, looking sideways, using your imagination... and make up your own title to the painting.

Here are some of the paintings in the exhibit... will post more next week. 

A friend titled this one

"Hokey-Pokey, you put your right foot in..."

untitled - someone suggested "Colonoscopy"  PLEASE suggest something else!

"Owl in a limb"   Can you see it?

Possibly...."Motion"  maybe YOU can do better!

"Red Pepper" or "Red Whale" ?????

untitled.... ????

That's half of the exhibit. If you are in the area, stop by the full exhibit and write down some titles!  The Y is located behind the high school.  Address is 300 Seymore Ave.

 

Second Look

 Life intervenes... It's been a long time since my last post. As a way of getting back into the rhythm of posting, I am sharing a 're-do.'

Several years ago, we decided that we needed to 'keep up with the Joneses.' Many of the houses in our neighborhood have name signs. So, we would name our house and I would make a sign.

When we were house hunting we looked at LOTS of houses! Our wonderful realtor (a friend) showed us so many properties. So many in fact, that at one time she broke down in tears and said "Just what are you looking for?"

We assured her that we were getting closer to making a decision and asked to see two of the places that we had seen before... we would make appointments for the following weekend and put in an offer. 

Our second look at the house we live in now convinced us that this is where we wanted to be. We had seen a lot of places since our first look and nothing compared to where we are now. 

Thus, the name of our house is Second Look. 

That was back in my woodworking days... I began to work on a sign. I carved out the letters...and then had the idea that I could a a light touch. The word LOOK actually has two eyes in it...little pupils in the O's. That sign hung for a number of years. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of it.

A few years later and a lot of weather and it was time to repaint the sign. By this time I had begun my painting career so I added a few trees to the sign.

A month or so ago... several years later than when the above photo was taken, the sign was again in need of repair. Peeling varnish and paint required some major fixing.

I removed the sign and knew it needed some significant sanding! Fortunately, it was lovely weather and I decided to do my sanding outside. I plugged in my sander and went to work...hmmm, there was an ant peeking out of a tiny hole in the back of the sign... Before I knew it, he was joined by many friends and the sign was covered with ants! I got out a chisel and began to explore. 

I had forgotten that the last time I painted I had found several carpenter bee tunnels in the sign. I had cleaned them out and filled them... Now the tunnels were filled with ants!

Major repairs! More filler and sanding...

My quickie repaint job had turned into a project!

Since I was spending so munch time on this, I decided to at least have some fun with it and add more artwork. The carved letters are still there. I filled in the 'eyes' and added more trees and ground on the front. We live in a pine forest...

While I was add it...why not also paint the back??? I am NOT a landscape painter, but thought it would be fun to paint our water view. Besides, who is going to see the back of the sign anyway? It's our look down Broad Creek.

I love this and really enjoy seeing it on my way out the driveway!

Acrylic Pouring..."Swimming Upstream"

Several months ago I rediscovered acrylic pouring. I had been having fun experimenting with watercolor and yupo paper... this seemed the next step in my attempt to be loose. It was time to let the medium (in this case acrylic paint) do the work.

I began by wetting watercolor paper on both sides. This helps keep the paper from buckling. I wiped it off a little and laid it on wax paper on a stiff backing. I covered the entire piece of paper with white paint (that had been mixed with Floetrol - a pouring medium.) Then I began to drizzle paint all over it. I wanted to create a lot of 'cells' (paint 'bubbles') so I added a few drops of silicone to the paint.

At this point I was ready to do some swiping. I took some small stiff pieces of paper and dragged them over the paint at an angle. This technique brings up the cells.

You can see some of the cells appearing!

The next day, after it had dried, I began to look for 'something' in it. I turned it in different directions and tried looking for interesting images in this design.

The following week, I showed all this to my art group and they loved it... several of them saw fish swimming. 

I then decided to have some fun with this and began finding as many fish as I could. As I found a fish, I added eyes...  I started to get carried away and had to stop myself at one point because I saw fish everywhere!  Take a look... I am sure you could have added even more eyes!

So, this became "Swimming Upstream."  It is currently part of the SMAL Members' Show hanging at the St. Michaels Library during the month of June. In July, it will be part of an exhibit at Blue Crab Coffee in St. Michaels. Stop by and count the fish!

More acrylic pours to come...

One other note - This blog site has notified my that as of July, the automatic notification to many of you who have subscribed to this blog will no longer be operative. I am going to try to figure out how to find out who you are and get messages to you...but I find this electronic issue challenging! Will do my best to keep you informed!