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Friday, April 19, 2013

Going to the City

I read a quote on Facebook by Chuck Close recently.  It was advice for young artists. Paraphrased it said, "Don't wait for inspiration or the perfect idea.  Pick up your brush and get to work.  The work will lead you to the ideas."  That is how I started this page.

I can't get the phrase, Going to the city, out of my head.  It's been in there since I stenciled the cityscape on the page.  So I guess this page is about going to the city.    
I've never lived in the country where you could see the lights of the city from a distance.  I guess this is my idea of what it might be like.  Truthfully, I just wanted to play with paint and this is what appeared.  

This page is done in my recycled paper book I made a while back.  I used a stencil I cut from a picture I found in some clip art from the office.  I had to enlarge it about 200%.  Now I want to make it huge so it will fill a whole page!

I created layers using a grid stencil Theresa gave me.  I think she cut up a basket up to make it.  The smaller design is a coaster.  the Show Off Butterfly and Branches stencil.  I messy painted the houses with gesso and a Catalyst rubber tipped brush.  It was too big for the job but I made it work.  Then I dipped it in gesso and tapped it with my finger to get some speckles.  Now I really want a smaller size of the Catalyst brush.  

Link to Creative Everyday


4 comments:

  1. Just wanted to come by and thank you for sharing your story with me. I appreciate it so very much...it's good to know that we don't struggle alone sometimes!

    I really like this page, especially after I read your post! It absolutely brings to mind the light of the city shining in the distance! I love, love, love that idea!

    When you drive into Elizabethton(the town where I live), you go down a steep hill around a sharp curve, and between the hills on the right side of the road, you can see the whole town in the valley below.
    The first time I ever saw that view, (almost 10 years ago now!) it was winter and cold and dark and when you looked out at the town, it was just a bunch of beautiful lights in the darkness. I was reading a couple of days ago about "thin places" which are supposedly the places or instances where you feel a connection with the divine or something eternal...I have to say, it's not usually the kind of thing I go in for (it sounds a lot like hokum...), but for some reason the idea of thin places appealed to me very much. I think what I felt looking out at those lights must be what people mean when they say 'thin places'. That's what your page got me thinking about. I like it very much. It called to mind something nice that I had forgotten for a time. :)

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  2. I like the way the flower fields lead you to the city, as well as the contrast between the softness of the field and the striking night city lights. Blessings!

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  3. There is nothing in the dark that isn't there when the lights are on - but some things look so much prettier :D This is a wonderful page Boo. Bravo! :0) Mo x

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  4. Wonderful! :D Thanks for your visit to my blog! :D

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