Tuesday, June 8, 2010

My Town (multilayered plaster aj page)

"Where I was born, where I was raised, where I keep all my yesterdays." Montgomery Gentry
"There's only one place they call me one of their own." Bon Jovi
Multilayered techniques are right up my alley! I am working on a Gratitude Art Journal, with plaster pages.  Each page in the journal will complete the phrase, "I am grateful . . ."  This page is about how happy I am that I grew up in a small town and lived there my entire life, until I went away to college.  I am happy to be giving my children the same experience, even though it's in a different town than the one where I grew up. The quotes today are from country songs.  I always use a lot of quotes and words in all my art.  It is a definite part of my style.  The technique I used for this involved collaging patterned papers on to a plaster page and then painting over it with several layers of paint.  I journaled in between the layers of paint and used a glazing technique for the top layer, so that some of the underneath would show through. If you click on the image above, you can see the details better and read the journaling. This is the same technique I used for my creative circle blog hop post, which you can see here. A different art journal page I did about where I grew up is here. Thanks for all your lovely feedback on my recent posts!

16 comments:

  1. Just beautiful, thank you for sharing, very inspirational.

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  2. What I love about your pieces is that I can see what you were thinking; but I'm also inspired to think myself too. if that makes sense. You've got me thinking today, I was born in the city, brought up in the country and am back in the city now with my kids at the school their Grandmother went to.

    I love how you have portrayed your own thoughts on this!

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  3. Perfect quotes,Rinda....and love how you've built the layers up....stunning piece.

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  4. I knew this would be a prompt that would suit you so well :-) I really like the text throughout the background as well.
    I'm a small town girl too, but, raising kids in the suburbs and trying very hard to make sure they have lots of small town experiences - life in the country is good!

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  5. This one brought tears to my eyes Rinda. It may very well be my favorite piece. I grew up in the city..but raised my children in a small town, where I have remained. All of my children have flocked to the city, but one day, hopefully...they too will be grateful.

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  6. I'm so glad you shared your process as well as the finished piece. It provides such insight into the why & how, not just the what!

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  7. I, too, grew up in a small town, but raised my family in a suburb. Tracy and I spent a long time deciding where to buy our first house, so choosing the city was a deliberate act. It's a lovely town near lots of culture we might not have taken advantage of if we had chosen one of the small towns near here. Your piece is lovely, as always, and makes me want to get on with my album about home. It keeps getting pushed aside for other projects.

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  8. Beautiful piece, Rinda. I just love that you use song lyrics in your work - love the Bon Jovi line! :o)

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  9. the layers in your piece are subtle and yet they make a strong visual statement. great take on the prompt!

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  10. Ooh, a plaster journal, way cool!!

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  11. great layers Rinda! I like the glazing to add color but see what is underneath too. You picked super quotes to go with the theme - although I didn't grow up in a small town I got to spend several summers in a very small Minnesota town and it was wonderful!

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  12. I grew up in a small town and am bringing my children up in one too - although a different one! Your piece is gorgeous and you always find great quotes.

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  13. Lovely, Rinda! I especially love the jewel-like blue of your background/sky and the lovely textures, with the smoothness of the cut-out lettering on top.

    I grew up in a town, but wanted to live in a village. After moving around quite a bit for the first few years of our marriage, we have finally been settled in this village, for over 4 years now. DS is getting the chance to walk to school, go out and about in a fairly safe environment, make friends that live locally. I would have liked that - I am glad he's getting this chance to put down roots.

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  14. Lovely work Rinda. I love watching your page and what you will do next. See ya tomorrow. Tam

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  15. This is a great project. I've tried to start an art journal, but find I can't keep with it very well. I love the texture of the piece.

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