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creativelybijou

The Making of my Newest Acrylic Original "Summit Seeker"

Once upon a time I wrote an anecdote about the pains of moving and the projects you find yourself deliberating and evaluating each salvaged candidates’ worth. Which pieces are worth their rented storage space to hold onto the hopes of one day braving the “pre-project procrastination” stage to delve into making your planned vision reality. Though I did let go of some less practical projects I still currently harbor more of these handsome hopefuls than our little apartment really has space for. Perhaps it was the dawning realization that I would have to nix some more of these orphaned beauties that got my motor revving and brushes burning but regardless of the why I am so delighted to finally be able to say that I did indeed finish one of these projects. Sure, did this particular piece sit alone and afraid in the dark with spiders as its only companion for over a year…yes, much like Harry Potter this poor little fellow was relegated to the broom closet —but now it sits pretty and proud in the light of day with plants and ceramics as lively mates. I find myself quite proud of the new face this piece dons. So, without any further ado, let me introduce you to the newest piece within my collection “Summit Seeker” which depicts our shaggy Rocky Mountain Goat taking a jaunt amongst the flowers on his hunt to bag another Colorado peak.


Before we gush about this new makeover, let me take you back to the time that I first rescued this simple framed piece from death row. Once again, I risk you believing me to be an avid dumpster diver, but this is a risk I am willing to take. I admit, I found this former framed print roughly deported to the space that lay in front of our shared garbage can. It was left lazily beside the trash by our downstairs neighbor. Perhaps it was an offering to those who wanted to invade our personal space and make the journey shimmying through our cars to check out if anyone left free items leaning against the house or perhaps, she just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of opening the bear lock handle of the trash cans themselves. Either way, as fate would have it, I strolled out with a garbage bag full of miscellaneous wrappers and waste ready to be tossed into the can when leaning abandoned orphans caught my eye. They were two in number, two framed prints of some sort of Parisan street which still looked to be in excellent condition. The artist in me could not help itself as I looked down to find the frames already wrapped in my loving embrace as I made my way back into our house. I had plans for these two abandoned puppies. A new life, look and love… Then I put them out of sight for the next year, not fully forgetting about their intended transformations.


I should clarify that the first frame was put to use much sooner than its twin. Fairly immediately the first frame became the happy new home of my glittery acrylic canvas original named “Fierce”. Unkindly, this meant the second piece was separated from its twin and left waiting on the sidelines for its chance at glory. As time continued, I happened to be making excellent use of my time mindlessly scrolling Instagram when I came across an awesome photo of a wandering goat by the photographer Jake Guzman. This photo sparked my inspiration and finally I knew exactly what face I wanted to give this old print.

 

Naturally, after inspiration hit, I sat some more months ignoring it before finally gathering the gusto needed to inspect and start the project at hand. My sleuthing revealed that the paper print itself was glued to its wooden backing with no hope of separation. No matter, I decided the best tactics for battle would be to simply mask the print beneath by mixing a sculpture medium with black paint to create a new texture while disguising what lay beneath. Once the new texture was set and ready I allowed my charcoal pencil to skate its way around the board carving the whimsical lines for where my paint would find its home. Not being extremely interested in replicating real life in acrylic form, I allowed my imagination to play about and come up with the “art nouveau” style of clouds and flowers to give structure to the soft mountains and grassy hills surrounding the goat itself. I did not have a set end vision that I was adhering to but allowed myself to come to the painting with fresh eyes each day and asked myself where I felt today’s journey should take us. This allowed me to really play with the piece and allow the piece to bring me to a point of a fresh perspective each and every day. To use a very hip phrase, I allowed myself to simply “fuck around and find out”. This relaxed “chiller” mindset really allowed me to have a fun time dancing around with this piece; it also manifested many different iterations of how the elements looked, developed, died and came back to life. This was especially true when it came to augmenting my goat friend. Originally, I was convinced that I wanted to do more of a cartoon style goat to avoid the nuisance of painting fur. As the painting continued to evolve, I found myself repeatedly painting a million different strokes of slightly varying color that unified in the furry texture the goat now sports. I am glad I pushed myself to explore and take the time to create the fur instead of shying away from the incredibly time intensive process behind creating a fur coat.

 

The last necessary glow up for this project was the frame. The frame originally sported a muted brown which seemed fine at first but as I saw my “Summit Seeker” painting taking form I knew that I would need to give the frame a glow up to match that of the hoofed fellow it protects. I felt that a metallic black would be the perfect new fit as it would add a little flare of its own while being subdued enough to not overshadow the real diva that is strutting its goaty stuff in the painting. Though painting the frame was not a challenge, I did find that as with most abandoned people, this painting carried about a little bit of baggage itself. The original frame set up made use of a staple gun to keep the wooden backing from leaving the loving caress of the glass in front. Unfortunately, I had to act as a bit of a divorce lawyer and remove those trusty staples when the time came for me to take the printout from the frame to perform its makeover. Now that the painting was ready to be made whole again, I had to engineer a new solution to keep the backing from bolting from its reconciled glass lover. Luckily for me, I handmake all my packaging from repurposed materials. This meant that I had a trusty stack of cardboard at the ready to lend a hand when I found myself in need. Folding the sturdy cardboard, I was able to adhere a freshly formed bracket to the backing of the frame. With this final solution, my painting earned its badge as complete. Now it is enjoying the attention and limelight that follows a newly minted painting.

 

I am so glad that you tuned in for this week’s offbeat anecdote. I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about the murky past of my newly fabulous “Summit Seaker” original. I hope you tune in next Sunday for another offbeat anecdote.


As Always,


Keep it offbeat!

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