Making the invisible, visible...

A few weeks ago, I began sort of a series  - trying to make 'art' out of common things we don't usually see. Here is another under this heading. I am thinking of it as making the invisible, visible.

I had walked around Barbara's neighborhood during a watercolor class when I came upon the fire hydrant. (see Post on 10-13-16) Another day, I walked around her house with my camera. Again, I was trying to see what we don't normally look at. It was fun to look purposefully for the invisible.

In her furnace/laundry room I discovered furnace pipes - perfect! I took several photos and went to work. My goal was to simplify - I left out the clothes hanging behind the pipes and just focused on the pipe shapes themselves.

I sketched it out with pencil and then got out my matchstick and ink. I was ready to take it to class for critique.

I really liked the sketch and I was anxious to paint it. We talked about what kind of background would not interfere with the overall image. I decided just to use all the colors I was using in the pipes and do some wet-on-wet painting.  I also cropped it closer to the pipes, creating a more vertical impact. Voila...

 Artwork titles are always a challenge - one of my friends suggested "Turn me on." I am not sold on that - open to other suggestions.