Caulk for texture blowout-- a circle abstract piece

Well, once again it's been too long since I posted some new art.  My blog seems to be getting away from me, which definitely bothers me.  Lately, my blog hits have dwindled significantly, which hurts a lot.  Then again, I have to keep reminding myself that my blog, although it's very important to me, is only one part of my life.  A big part yes....but only one part.    The same thing with making art.

I've been in a mini-slump lately, meaning I've worked on some art but not to the extent I wanted.  I've been in much worse slumps, so in comparison, this one hasn't been that bad or frustrating, or even guilt producing.  So....that being said, here is my latest work of art, started and completed yesterday.

Well, as I've written before, I do love using caulk as an art medium, especially for texture.  And since most of the time, I tend to put a lot of emphasis on texture, caulk is right up my alley.  I love it, because it works, it's easily accessible and available, and it's cheap and economical.  It can be bought an any home improvement store for just a few dollars.  It has also been available at Family Dollar stores for a buck for the kind of tube that needs a caulk gun.  That's where I've been buying it as long as they sell it there.  I hope they keep selling it there, but I've stocked up on it, just in case.

Referring to this art piece, I used a thick piece of chipboard for the base.  Well, a few months ago, I bought 75 pieces of this chipboard on ebay, and am so glad I did.  The price was great, the shipping was not so great, but the overall price was reasonable.  It works for me on this kind of piece, which is 8 1/2 x 11 inches.  I used a non-serrated vintage butter knife to spread the white acrylic caulk.  I tried to spread it fairly thin.  Then I used the knife to texturize it in a somewhat random way.  Then I used foam circle stamps, a larger one and a smaller one, to impress on the caulk and swirl it around and pull it up.  And also a drinking straw to make smaller circles, and  then a sharp awl to draw lines in it.  Once I was done with it, I was satisified.  So then I let it dry.

Then I painted it with coffee acrylic paint, and then rubbed over it with brown shoe polish.  I've done this many times before in my art, but not so much lately, since I've been more into using bold color.  After that, I used gold and coffee metallic paint diluted with water to roll down the piece in a random way, based on the texture.  And then painted it with Future Floor Finish (FFF) for a gloss effect, and used splattered copper and gold Pearl-Ex over that.  I wanted a random paint effect, which I think I achieved.

So anyway, this is the abstract texture piece I ended up with.  I like it a lot.  And it just reminds me how much I like using caulk, the poor man's molding paste.  I think, even if I could afford to spend money on the most artistic/expensive supplies and tools, I'd much prefer to use other things, cheaper things, for basically the same effect and result.   I'm a lot more about that approach, at least whenever I can be.  I love using things not purposed for art in my art.  I love pushing the envelope that way, and also saving money.  

But then again, I think there needs to be a balance regarding that.  Because some art supplies can't be easily substituted by something else.  However, as for me, I'm always game to try!!!