Talk about a brain dump of a painting.
Looking back, the second photo below was my foreshadowing of what was to come. This painting went through so many guises (20 pauses, by my count - but I've only shown 12 here). I kept coming up against dead ends and turning around and starting again.
The first panel shows texture building, adding some thick watercolour paper that I had created at an art retreat that was stained in various teas.
The second and third panels show adding more (and more and more and more) texture. I set it aside at that point, as it was becoming overwhelming. The next time I worked on it, I covered it all up and tried some soft blues and whites. I thought that was the direction I was going in, until I sat it aside again.
When I brought it back again, I started off with reds, then more texture, then a bit of white to tone that done somewhat. For some reason, in the penultimate panel, I thought I could add a horizon - even though I NEVER put horizons in my paintings! And, once it was in there, I realised the error of my ways.
The final panel shows how the whole painting softened, except for a few bright colours still peeking through. An archaeologist would have a field day, there are so many layers in this painting!
© 2018 Kimberli Werner, “I Follow the Clouds”, encaustic wax, collage, acrylic, acrylic ink, embossing foil, on gypsum board, 60cm x 30cm, for sale, contact me for more information..
