Getting Closer

I got back to work on samples late yesterday afternoon at my studio. I'm still testing out more ideas for deconstructing letters for the next Pages pieces so they look like they're wearing away or being erased. Here are some samples and results. On the lower left letter, I pulled out my trusty Presist and stippled it through a stencil and then painted over it once the resist dried. That yellowish color you see on the letter is dried Presist (available through http://www.prochemical.com/).

On the top right I used a dry kitchen sponge to stipple paint through a stencil without any resist. The top image shows resist with paint over it...




and this one shows the same letters after cloth has been heat set and rinsed. I thought the outline of the letters still looked too intact, so I tried again.

This time I worked more intentionally with the resist to cover portions of the outer edges. Once the resist dried, I painted over it with black Setacolor.

The results on this sample encouraged me, especially on the lower left hand part of the C and the bottom of the B. The challenge is to stipple the resist enough to cover but not form blobs -- it will take a bit more practice to get the application just right, but these letters really do look like they are beginning to break down or disintegrate. Here's a shape where I really liked the results once I set the paint and washed out the resist.

It is encouraging to feel like I'm getting closer to being able to create the cloth for the next Pages construction.

Another big milestone on my "to do" list got completed yesterday. The design for my "Notations" exhibition postcard got fleshed out, finished and sent off to the printer thanks to the wonderful assistance of my dear friend Nancy Murty, http://www.nancymurty.com/, who manages to be both a gifted nature artist AND pattern designer. Thanks to her, the postcard looks exceptional. If you'd like me to mail you a postcard, just e-mail your snail mail address to me at beckwriter@aol.com and I'll be happy to send one to you.