Monday, March 19, 2018

MILLEFEUILE/ TRANSPARENCE

Detail of Forest #4,  30x40 cm,  art by mary m payne


Millefeuille literally means a thousand sheets and is the same name given in France to the pastry we call a "Napoleon" in the States.  Here is my art project results based on the theme of "layers"....  but without cream.

 In this project I was asked to work using materials that were transparent and to build them up using a minimum of 3 layers .  Materials could include glass or plexiglass; papers such as tracing or tissue papers; plastic and its derivatives; scotch tape, or gels and glues that dry to transparency. 

  I chose to work with the plastic we call rhodoïd  in France.   Some of it can be purchased in office supplies and is mainly used for printers as film for overhead projectors. 

 I found that with my own ink-jet printer the ink on ordinary plastic used as a substrate just stays on the surface.  I could only use that wet ink layer by transferring the ink onto a paper in the method of monotype ( mono printing).   There is also a rhodoïd made specifically for ink-jet wherein the ink stays on the plastic and so for these works I used both kinds of plastic.  I also did use the mono prints taken from the transferred wet ink onto paper in forests # 2 and 3. 



Forest #1 , art by Mary MM.Payne, 30x40 cm framed in beige mat


Essentially these works are composed of three layers of plastic, paper or the transparent non woven polyester fabric sometimes commercially called "Gossamer". 

 I have taken photo images of trees I found in "shutter stock" and used them to build my "untouched forest" settings.  I say untouched as in wishful thinking.  I hope there are a few forests of the world where no one has been but it wouldn't be the ones photographed here.  Still I found comfort in the images that exposed no humans, just majestic trees and their ecosystems. 

 The distinct layers have ½ to one centimeter of space between them, held apart by black "gator board" a kind of display board characterized by an inner core of foam.  It has a wood fiber veneer and is waterproof.  These pieces therefore, stand about an inch from the wall when mounted. 





 Forest #2 , art by Mary M Payne, 30x40 cm framed in black passe-partout ( mat)




Forest#3  art by Mary M Payne, 30x40cm framed in grey mat



Forest # 4 ,art by Mary M Payne

In this photo detail you can see the textures. It is the only piece where I used cut-outs.   The first layer is cut away plastic with traces of the photo, the second layer is paper backed plastic with non woven fabric adhering to it.  

The background layer has not been cut out and is also covered with translucent "gossamer".  Various mark making tools.... including a hand made rubber stamp of a tree were used to enhance the composition.  

 These pieces remind me of fold-out books of childhood.  I have to say, they are better "in person" than in the photos.  



Forest# 4 , art by Mary MM.Payne, 30x40cm framed in black mat





Friday, March 16, 2018

Be what you are....Journal page

Journaling Friday... "Do not wish to be anything but what you are and be that perfectly".  

St Francis de Sales ( a French catholic priest born 1567)

Journal page by Mary M Payne

Included in the mix:  Joss paper , stencils, stamping, paper words, translucent printed craft paper , acrylic paints, gold inking pen,  acrylic gel, I used the outlines of jars and bottles to make the white circles.  


Journal page by Mary M Payne

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Adventures in cotton rag paper


Journal pages, Mary M Payne

I found a new empty journal book in an artsy shop in Nice called "L'arret creation".   It was just calling out to me.  
This smallish book is about 8.5 inches square
 ( 22cm.) 
 I liked the deckled feathered edges which are one of the signs of handmade paper.  And the price was about 12 euros which is good for handmade paper. 



Journal pages, Mary M Payne

It is from the Khadi mill in south India...made from recycled cotton rag. 

 The book, though is quite fragile. In fact the spine came off early on and I had to tape each page by the end of the work to make the book hold together.    These journal pages can be watercolored or inked but not much else. 


Detail of stencil , pens and handmade rubber stamping , journal page by Mary M Payne


The rag paper doesn't really like glue but I have forced the issue and each collage page is "bumpety rumpety".  The different gram weights of paper collage and glue make the book fatter and more interesting somehow. 



collage journal page, Mary M Payne



Tissue type papers and gel glues were the most successful collage materials I found. 



collage journal pages, Mary m Payne

Some pages like this one just didn't work as the paper didn't really take a layer of gesso to get back to "square one".  The gesso made it almost impossible to outline with pen afterwards so that part looks pretty clumsy.  

If you don't crack the shell, you can't eat the nut,  journal pages Mary M Payne


 Really, I shouldn't be so precious about it all.  It's a journal for "christsake" ....meant to be about spontaneity.  

journal pages, Mary M Payne

But hey, 
the game of journaling, like most of life,  is all about process and discovery. 

Even if I am not really proud of the results of this little journal,  I am still attached to the stuff I learned...


 so yes,  I will show you the rest of it later.