It's a new month and with it comes the Bermuda summer humidity and warmer temps, as well as a new era in my work! I am a creature of habit and may have perhaps continued with the brown tones of my work through eternity, but the universe had another plan....
When I first began this work, I decided to use brown as my color way. I chose it because I had a good supply of brown llama roving from my years of raising llamas and never wanting to waste anything, decided this was a good use for it. The fabric I ultimately used for the canvas back was not my original choice but was forced upon me. The best place to buy quantity of wool fabrics is at Oxford Woolen Mills in Oxford, Maine. Though they no longer weave fabric there, they have a voluminous supply from when they did, and continue to sell it. In fact they continue to replace items as they sell due to the reputation they have built as supplier for anyone needing woolen fabrics for Art projects or craft. But I digress....
When I went to purchase fabric from them when I began this Art, I was looking for a nice worsted coat weight fabric to match the roving I had. The only thing they had was a boucle. I was not impressed but I felt it was my only choice and who was I to fool with the universal plan! So, I bought it, used it, and loved it! The texture of the fabric was perfect for my application. It blended beautifully with the texture of my paper pours and unified the look. Perfect!
Well.... it seemed so anyway.... Until I needed to replenish my inventory and they no longer have, and can no longer find a supply of this same color way in this same fabric. Drat! What to do.... What to do..... After a visit to the store on one of my trips to Maine, I spent agonizing time trying to decide how to proceed. Once I got over the fact that the brown was now history, I chose to go black. This is the Sumi-e tradition anyhow, so it seemed right. I would just have to purchase some wool roving to match. Easy... done... BUT, things are not always so easy for me to decide and I was challenged with the idea of the off-white and the use of more color in my work. Initially, I exclusively worked with the monochromatic as done with the most traditional of Sumi-e but had begun to do some color. Why not get some of the off-white and do some experimenting? I indulged myself and so it is!
This week I have poured some canvases on both the black and the white color ways and have a few sketches nestled in the back of my mind for future paintings. I wait for the canvases to dry before I can begin to play....
Sometimes moving on to the unfamiliar is a hardship; it creates blocks of fear that impinge on movement in a new direction. The good news is that I had some smaller canvases of brown remaining and have been working with those, giving the new color ways a chance to settle in and become familiar. Osmosis... That's my best ticket!
As I move forward, watch for postings showing the new work. Or better yet! Plan to come to the Audubon Art & Fine Craft Show on August 16 & 17 at Gilisland Farm in Falmouth, Maine and see it. Up close and personal!
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