All That Glitters

This is my latest piece, Too Many Romance Novels #2, 25" x 14" mixed media on shaped canvas. Lots of gold leaf which I love along with image transfers, collage, stencils and numerous surface techniques.

 I have spent quite a bit of time in Venice and what city is more romantic except Paris. Winter in Venice is like a Gothic novel with the damp mist clouding every twisting walkway and taking us back to a different time. The story? How often we are entranced by the glimmer of the surface that we forget to look beneath the obvious only to miss seeing what other alternative may befall us.

Fun with Plex

Years ago I did a series of pieces on plex and loved it but forgot about it as I moved on to something else. An artist friend scored dozens of odd shaped pieces of plex from a framer and passed them on to me. I had forgotten the joy of it's luminosity and the gorgeous depth you get.

This piece is Road Show Star and is 16" x 7" on plex with a wood backing. It has everything on it — gold leaf, water slide decals, stenciling, stamping and collage on both sides. Yum.

Image Transfers & Roll Top Desks

This 26.5" x 26.5" piece, (h)ombre, is painted on the back of the top of a roll top desk hence all those great lines. I found it at a Habitat for Humanity store and when I flipped it over to see the back side I was floored by the beauty. It was very hard to make that first mark on it so I ended up having to restrain my natural urge to add more.

Gratitude

Misty Dawn

copyright 2012 Sandra Duran Wilson

This work on paper was made for a gallery show I had in Australia. I used many of the texture techniques in Surface Treatment Workshop to create "collagraph plates" that I then inked and printed using an etching press. Other layers were created on silk and layered on top of the collagraph. As you can see, there are no limits of what the many techniques can be used for. Try some of them for printmaking, quilting, fiber arts, book making; the list goes on.  

Up, Up and Away

Sandra and I are off to Cincinnati for the photo shoot on book #3 and are excited to see our old friends at F&W and meet some new ones. It will be a week of working, having fun and we always seem to learn something in the studio of Christine, F&W photographer.

In the meantime here is a 12" x 12" mixed media on panel titled Snacktime. I love Little Cuties, my snack of choice.

Inspired by a Demo

This piece was inspired by a demo I did in one of my classes that I then scanned into my computer and played with the composition in Photoshop. Finally when I got to a place where it was working for me then I went to painting the final piece which has so many techniques used. There is gold leaf, stamping, alcohol, stenciling, transfer painting, water slide decals, collage and more.

Midsummer Dream, 20" x 16" mixed media on panel

She Gambled It All for Love

This 24" x 24" piece has a very large gel transfer, water slide decal, stained glass insert, vintage playing card, collage, and pearls. In addition, there are various techniques from the new book, Surface Treatment Workshop, such as crackle, alcohol and Elmer's glue.

Splish Splash

I have had this vintage image for the longest time and while sorting through my image collection I came across this and an image of my tree branches. The hose was a perfect line element. Having raised birds for a period in my life, I know the joy they have with water. So, Splish Splash, little birds.

All That Glows

10x10 by Sandra Duran Wilson

This painting started with a gesso transfer, using gold gesso and a laser image. A stencil was used to add dimensional shapes, clear layers of acrylic add more depth and more paint completes the work.

Large is Good

This piece, Floral Prose, started with a 24" x 36" gel transfer from a pigmented print on a gold leafed panel. It was my first this large and a success. The transfer was used as an underpainting.

I had been rereading the classics and I was thinking about Jane Austin as I did this piece and how the English must always dream of Spring. Maybe that is just me projecting my love of Spring and Summer.

Melody

Music is my muse. I create paintings to music. Try this yourself. Get your tools out, brushes, markers or whatever and put on some music. Let yourself flow with the melody and paint the sound.

Where Has the Summer Gone?

For some crazy reason, I have been on art binge where I am creating pieces with nudes. This is new to me but it has been a fun exploration.

Sandra and I spent all last winter working on our new book, Surface Techniques Workshop, and it has helped me incorporate much more to my art. In this piece I have several different transfers but have also incorporated skins, stencils, Crazy Easy Transfer Painting and collage. The fish is a wonderful 3-d element that was a gift from a friend.

Play, have fun, and paint like crazy!

Be Happy

Sandra and I have been busy with our second book on surface treatments and I has been an incredibly expanding experience. It taught me to push the limits of every technique.

This piece, Be Happy, made me feel so good to do. It started with an vintage scrapbook that a dear friend had given me. The image transfer over it made a tattoo image on the girl's arm which I love. I also used paint and gel skins and a faux encaustic finish.

I never use a straight image transfer. I am painting under it and over it to make it mesh with the whole painting.

Transparency Transfers

Ferns and Forms 8x8 by Sandra Duran Wilson

I love texture and layers and this piece has both. I have used a transparency and created a texture on it by rubbing with graphite over a textured plate. I glued the transparency down over a painted surface. There is a band of painted silk and the bottom has texture created by dragging a tool through gel medium.

All kinds of transfers

City Serenade 24x24 Sandra Duran Wilson

This painting has about every kind of transfer you can imagine from gel, plastic heat, water slide decal, gampi tissue, paint and gum arabic transfers. All of these and more are found in the book. Darlene and I have just finished the art for our second book and we go to Cincinnati for the photo shoot at the end of the month. More exciting techniques to come.

Happy Holidays

Wow, the holidays are here and a new year is coming up hard and fast. Sandra and I have been busy with our second book on surfaces which is a perfect compliment to Image Transfer Workshop.

On the left, Juicy Too, is a combination of water slide transfers, gold leaf, collage and lots of glazing. A friend of mine was asked by her gallery to paint some red paintings and I thought it was a great idea so I challenged myself to do one and I had a great time. It is in a show of work by Canyon Road artists being held at The Factory in Albuquerque that starts Thanksgiving weekend.

Gratitude

Misty Dawn

I now have an etching press in my studio and I am having so much fun it should be illegal. This is a collagraph using oil etching ink. I have also collaged an image on organza, the mist, and some gold leaf. A collagraph is like creating a textured collage, then you ink it and print it. I make several different plates and layer my colors and textures to create depth.