Triptych, Garden series: The Nightcrawler

Tryptic Garden series.. 26x51.5cm framed...original art by MarymPayne

This is one of my favorite series from the theme: "personal garden".  It has been done with pen, inks, acrylics and collage paper bits in bright orange that I glued in to give it some "punch".  

 I used this elongated format as it speaks to me of Japanese calligraphy and that was the feeling I wanted to give. 

Garden series, 26x51.5 cm framed, Mary M Payne

In this triptych I illustrate the following haiku that I wrote for the occasion . 

                            

white clay crust

dark ochre underbelly

night crawler glides

croute d'argile blanche

ventre noir ocre

vers de nuit glisse

 11x32cm, art by MaryM Payne

 11x32cm, art by MaryMPayne

Watercolor portrait by Manana

A watercolor portrait by Maria Fernanda Merino de Tiedra

I am proud to present the work of my friend Manana, who I have not actually seen for about 12 years but have known for over 20 years.  She is living now with her Italian husband in both Milano and Genova.      I have fond memories of time I spent with them there in Nervi where I visited several times.   

I think this work shows a great likeness to what I looked like about  15 years ago and I applaud how difficult a portrait is to do in watercolors ....which is a much less forgiving medium than oils.  I can somewhat date the photo she used because those wicker chairs were with us for about the first 7 years we lived here. 

   So thank you Manana .  It is perhaps the only portrait ever done of me aside from a self portrait I did some time ago and as my friend Patrick said, was quite flattering.   I suppose that that coming from another artist, is not a compliment. 

On another subject, I just want to say that Google has announced that they will erase material they have been keeping if the  site is not used within two years.

 

It is of course, impossible for them to store all this content for free, especially if it is obsolete.  So if there is a way that I can discover to pay the storage fee for my blog, I will do that. 

 

   But, I have just found out that although I can not post on this art blog from my computer I can post on it from this iPad so am trying to learn how to do that. 

 

 

            

Khadi papers journal Part II

Journal page by Mary M Payne

I found this Greek word Meraki,  "to do something with soul, creativity or love , to put something of yourself into your work. "   I think that is what this personal journaling is all about. 

These two chickens are cut out of a paper napkin.  The paper is thin enough to collage easily onto the pages of this latest recycled cotton rag journal. 

 I have a special fondness for chickens . There are eleven hens living across the street from us and I love to hear them "talking" and we certainly love eating the eggs still stuck with straw.  The owner gives us a gift of eggs from these hens each week.

 I even like the looks of a strutting chicken:  proud and upright. 

Khadi Journal

 John W. Gardner quote,   watercolor journal pages, Mary M Payne

This image of a "target" was something I created years back.   I found it in my "scrap-box" .  The quote is from John Gardner, an American writer and essayist. 

Journal page by Mary M Payne

And here are a couple of quotes on the next two page spread with one quote used as a border. Underneath that is writing with a silver pen that shows only as a textured, graphic background. 

Collage pages, Mary M Payne

In this collection of ephemera is a family photo (from monsieur's side), my first and perhaps only telegram, a passport piece and a diary entry from a world traveler I knew,  a piece from a 19th century  hand written accountant's log book ( in French) and a piece of gold colored burlap.  The butterfly is a transparent paper sold for "decoupage". 

Journal Pages, Mary M Payne

The printed paper glued down on the right is stenciled with acrylics.  It came from Amazon as package wrapping.  The quote reads: "Soyez vous meme, Tous les Autres sont déja pris. " Oscar Wilde.  

 Sorry, but as much as I try, I cannot get a circumflex on my Mac for the word "meme".

Journal pages Mary M Payne

The "seals" of gold colored acrylic paint are dried  and glued down with gel.  Like most magpies, I have a "faiblesse"  for the color "gold".

Journal pages by Mary M Payne

In the next arrangement on the left side are book pages attached with gel and painted white to make a background.  Both pages are sprayed with a fine mist of acrylic ink.  Ink and rubber stamps are used to complete the page.  
 The butterflies are added from an old wall calendar. 

 I vowed no hearts, butterflies, cutesy sayings or formulaic flowers in my journals... but as you see,  I have not entirely kept that promise.                

 I prefer not to fall into exaggerated sentimentalism...."Schmaltz" as the Jews and New Yorkers say.    But somehow it creeps in. 

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

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

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. 

Let's try an " image transfer"

Journal page by Mary M Payne

Journal Page by Mary m Payne

One of the new techniques that I have't quite mastered is "image transfer".   I showed it to you in the last post but really this post was written first and put into my drafts.  So here is a bit of an explanation.  

  The idea is to take an inked paper such as piece of magazine or a print made from either laser or inkjet and transfer it to another page rubbing off the moistened paper with your fingertips after you have glued it down and it is dry.  This should leave  only the ink on the page. 
 Easier said than done.  There are a variety methods to try this.  Most include gels or special glues. Some even use Vodka. 

Here I reduced a photo of a large sketch I had done of a nude years back and tried to transfer it to my page.  It didn't work, possibly because I used an "inkjet"printer.   I resorted to outlining the transferred image in pen.   But even that added a 

"je ne sais quoi" that worked all right. 

That bright colored card is a laser copy of an inked page I once did.  It ended up in my scrap box.  The  butterfly and music note scrap are from a commercial paper that I now feel is too "crafty" for me but it does have just the right translucency for gels.    I prefer to find stuff in flea markets, old books or compose bits myself but I still fall back on craft supplies sometimes.  I am at heart, impatient and dare I say, lazy.  

The stamp pad lettering is the only set I have ever found of children's letters that doesn't leave a huge smudge around each letter pressed.  I found it years back in Seattle and the set has finally come in handy.   I have given at least two other sets I bought recently to kids I know who aren't fussed about smudged results. 
 And yes, I suppose stamped lettering is "cheating" too but I love the primitive look of it.