Thursday, February 5, 2009

Washboard Effect

This is a 5x5 art squared piece I made a few weeks ago. After I made my "Starkness of Winter" piece with the weathered by nature corrugated cardboard, I still had some left over, fortunately. So I decided to use some on this piece, and just play around. I've been "into" the harlequin pattern lately, and finally bought a harlequin rubber stamp, my first one, and wanted to play with that too. And then I noticed that the bottom of a styrofoam meat tray I had washed and kept also had a harlequin pattern, which excited me, so I cut a rectangular piece out and used that for a stamp also, in the lower left corner.

So this piece is about weathered corrugated cardboard and the harlequin pattern, and as always, texture. I started with frozen pizza cardboard (FPC) as my base. I used the brown side, and etched random lines in it with a sharp awl for texture, then rubbed the piece with paste brown shoe polish. Then I glued down corrugated cardboard, and then some tea dyed cheese cloth on top of that. I also glued down a piece of rusted dryer sheet in the lower left corner. Then I used lavender and green acrylic paint and stamped with my harlequin stamps, and also painted over the corrugated cardboard. Then I rubbed brown shoe polish over the cheese cloth and dryer sheet and corrugated cardboard.

Then I distressed lavender and green paint chips by sanding them, and etching diagonal lines to get a harlequin pattern, then rubbing with the brown shoe polish. Then I used paper punches to punch out the shapes and glued them down. I don't often use beads in my work, although I have lots of cool beads, so on this piece I decided to use them. Just one more art supply I have that I should use more often. So I glued various beads down, and then sealed the whole piece with Future Floor Finish (FFF), which gives a glossy finish. The last touch was the cool rusted old key, from my stash off ebay.

I had to take a digital picture of this, rather than scanning it, due to the dimension on the piece.
I prefer to scan, because it's so much easier, although the colors don't always come out true. That's the downside of scanning. And the down side of taking pics is that oftentimes, there is unwanted glare. I even took this picture outdoors, so my flash didn't go off, which was what I wanted. Even so, there's some minor glare over the cheese cloth, which ends up looking like glitter, but there's no glitter on this piece. I enjoyed using the weathered corrugated cardboard as an element on this piece, and think it gives a washboard effect, hence the title.

I still have a few small pieces left of the weathered corrugated cardboard that I'm sure I'll use in one way or another. I'm so glad I accidently discovered it behind my garage a while back, and don't know where it came from, perhaps the trash, but am grateful. What a cool gift it was! And just to make sure I don't run out, I put a large pizza box, (not the frozen kind but the kind delivered, the corrugated kind, and no it wasn't for me but for my housemate) out behind my garage, where it can be weathered by nature. I sprinkled twigs and dried leaves over it, just for good measure, and weighted it down with a brick, so it won't blow away. Since I live in Colorado (Denver metro), and it's only February, I'm sure we'll be getting more snow and winter weather. I don't know exactly how long it will take to adequately distress and weather the pizza box, but I figure that is up to Mother Nature. At some point it will end up looking very cool and I can use it in my art.

However, today, at 11:30 am, it's 59 degrees outside, with the sun shining and a beautiful blue sky. The high is supposed to reach 64. Yesterday it was even warmer, close to 70. I don't know why we've been blessed with such beautiful, spring like weather, but I'm certainly enjoying it while it lasts. Because I know it won't last, but it sure gives me a case of spring fever. Anyway, it'll be interesting to check on the pizza box from time to time, and see how it's coming along, see what Mother Nature is doing to it.

19 comments:

Unknown said...

great article, Val!

i LOVE that you're putting stuff out to rust naturally and enjoying the experimental process!

xoxo
jul

Mary S. Hunt said...

the texture is incredible! love love love it
:)

Anonymous said...

This piece is terrific, Val! Love the colors.

Cynthia (Cindy) Powell said...

Love the colors and the textures are amazing!

Unknown said...

The colors sure work well for the effect you were going after. Once again, thanks for the details which are always inspiring!!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! I love the colors and the design!

Tricia said...

Beautiful - you are soooo talented! And inspirational! The key on top and the beads was the perfect addition to make this piece awesome. Hope your cardboard "weathers" well.

Anonymous said...

Lovely, warm colours, Val! I heard of a guy who made fake antiques by burying them in the yard so they would look aged! Maybe you could try digging a little hole back there...Of course, the neighbours may get a fright if they see you! LOL

Michi Michaelson, Orange County, CA said...

Ohhhhhhhhh . . . Val . . . I LOVE your Washboard Effect piece!!! It has so much going in it! It's such an exciting piece!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Val!
Love this one, too! You do such wonderful work with "found" objects and I always enjoy seeing your latest artwork.

See you on arttechniques!
Hugs and blessings,
Theresa

mary schweitzer said...

You constantly amaze me! I learn something from every piece you do seems like. I never would have thought to use future polish to seal my work. Brilliant!
Mary

Susan said...

I love what you are doing with the weathered objects. The colors are so vibrant.
Susan D

KatParks said...

I enjoy your "adventures" in art and this piece is very vibrant and interesting.

Inka said...

Love the effect!

One Creative Queen said...

That is gorgeous!! I love what you did - it's true candy for the eyes. :)

I can't wait to see what happens with the pizza box!

Katherine
http://bit.ly/lriz

Pat said...

Val, as always, it's beautiful! I'm crazy about that harlequin design but I rarely use it.
I hope you don't have a neat-nik neighbor who wants to do you a favor and discards the (FPC) for you!
I have one who scours the neighborhood daily and picks up everything not tied down...off to the trash can it goes.
Pat

Viola said...

Looks so fabulous, Val!

Unknown said...

Very cool blog...I am a floral designer & jewelry designer who is just starting to try altered art...I love that you give details on how you did technics...most helpful. I am looking for sites & books that do that ...they are few & far between...SO THANK YOU!!
I shall return.

Marva Plummer-Bruno said...

Oh this is gorgeous too!!! Love the colors and texture. Beautiful!