Copyright: All artwork/content protected under ©2007-2011 Lynne Ciacco

All content herein copyright © Lynne Ciacco


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Haven can't wait

My art journal waits patiently on a desk in my studio for me to be in the mood to open it and enter the little creative haven it provides.  Today the mood was right.  I flipped through the pages and came across one that was fairly far along in its development, and then I went at it...

©2012 L.Ciacco, Art Journal Page: Pasticcio Grande, 11 x 9 in.  

(well, it was either make some art or drive to the grocery and drug stores but I figured dietary and pharmaceutical supplies could wait until tomorrow while mucking about with paint, paper and glue could not.)

I wondered how the piece might look if it was flipped on its side and matted (only a  Photoshopped mock-up as it's a page in a book, after all, but we get the idea...)



Has a different feeling. Which way do you prefer?

  • The centre piece is a fragment of a small collage I made many moons ago, one in a series of cards I called "Pasticcios".  
  • The letters are from a fabric samples label, "Infinity."  I liked their shapes.  
  • The handwritten paper scraps are torn from an old journal of mine 
  • Paint is acrylic, both cheapy from the Dollar Store and good stuff from Golden



16 comments:

  1. That piece is awesome, love the texture and the color combinations.
    Hugs Anja from germany

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    1. Anjas,
      Thanks so much for coming to visit! I'm so pleased you like what you found.
      Hugs to you from Canada.

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  2. i think i like the top orientation best. those letters are fab. again, love the way you take from old work and make new.

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    1. Suki,
      I've been hoarding those letters! Time to use (some of) them, I figured. I've come back to preferring the top orientation, too. More raw energy or something like that.

      Delete
  3. Although I am drawn to the natural piece...I do love the mock up which gives it a 'gallery' feel....I am very much a linear person and that is why I am pursuing art journaling because it is helping me be more 'outside the lines'....which is why I am drawn to the top version....but feel better with the 'neatness' of the second version. Either way you are so very talented.

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    1. Danielle,
      That is so interesting, how you are drawn to one version on a cerebral level but the other on a more instinctual one, and that you are so cognizant of this dichotomy. I've been finding with my own art journal (which isn't a journal at all, really) that it's a wonderful space to "let go" in. I have some really messy pages that I would hesitate to share but that give me a great personal satisfaction, both to make and to look at. It's mine, no one's looking--who cares! Very liberating.

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  4. Tough choice...I think I will go with the first one...can't say why. The colors are lovely, night colors, beautiful blues. Nothing better than becoming captivated by a piece and working and reworking it!
    Cheap paints at the dollar store?? I'll need to check that out as a dollar store just opened here.

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    1. Blue Sky,
      The first seems to be carrying the vote. I like that you describe it as having "night colours." I'm not sure if it's a storming of a palace, or a situation of "meet me at the Casbah"...but there's definitely some mayhem and magic going on there. The flipped, framed version seems more subdued and orderly.

      Dollar store paints are those small plastic bottles of acrylic craft paint. They work great for getting something down very fast, or laying out some underwork. They don't have the wonderful brilliance and depth of good paint, but are good for getting down and dirty (in terms of making art) in a hurry.

      Delete
  5. I like the landscape view. Oddly, the blue focal point stands out more - at least to me. The entire page is well done. I'm glad you stayed in the studio and decided against shopping today.

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    1. Diva,
      Okay--a vote for the landscape! I see what you mean about the focal point standing out, and I think that in itself bestows a sort of order on the whole thing. I'm glad that you're glad. And anyway, I went shopping the next day.

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  6. I will cast my vote for the landscape orientation too. I like the tension of containment and structure created by the constraint of the frame. And the second was when I immediately saw the blue element as a butterfly. I was drawn quickly inward by the second, and then my imagination roamed more freely on from there...

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    1. Stickup,
      Not that it's a contest for popularity but with your vote, the landscape version is creating a bit of a landslide. (sorry, couldn't resist)
      I hadn't seen the blue element as a butterfly before. Nice. Maybe a butterfly's eye view. I agree with you about the feeling of containment on the flipped version, as if order is being gently imposed on chaos: thoughts are being formed and a universe is taking shape.

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  7. This collage is awesome. Love all of the details and the colors are totally amazing.
    Which way I do prefer? You make it very difficult, both look interesting...but I think I like the top version best. For my liking the colors are more naturally.

    Enjoy the weekend!
    Hugs,
    Gaby

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    1. Gaby,
      I had a good time grabbing various colours to add in to the mix, so I'm pleased that you like them so much. Sometimes I tried to restrain myself, thinking this or that colour would be too much, but then I'd just ignore that thought and go with the impulse to add red or turquoise, or whatever my hand went for.
      I am having a very pleasant weekend, thanks! I hope yours has been fun, too.

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  8. They are both interesting in different way. I prefer the first it's vibrant and immediate,and the colours work beautifully.

    Ruby

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    1. Ruby,
      So pleased the colours work for you! While I was working, my head would say "no--that's too much!" but my instinct was to grab the colour anyway. At the end, I was a bit afraid that I'd gone over the top.

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