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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Avoiding the precious

Pince Nez   mixed/paper   20 x 13.5
In my work, I really do try to avoid preciousness and perfection, which seems to kill the energy and, in the long run, the work itself. Playing with the media is a wonderful way to shake up the work and to push the envelope. Sometimes, of course, I am unable to retrieve the goodness of it all. But sometimes, by making the visual problem-solving more complex, I am surprised and delighted with the turn of events. In "Pince-nez", I knew that I would be working from a model. Ahead of time, I used watercolor to swash the surface of the paper in an interesting pattern. The portrait was worked over it with charcoal and pastel. Later I added gold leaf to the chain of the glasses.....I have had the gold leaf for many years in my cupboard and had not found a reason to use it. I am pleased with the results!