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cloutierj — Woods and Water

Published: 2013-02-09 19:59:45 +0000 UTC; Views: 932; Favourites: 32; Downloads: 6
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Description When I made the blue version, 'Water and Woods', I had cut out the green tree piece from some crinkled lokta, and decided that shade of green just didn't work with the blues. So I had to make a whole nother piece to use it. I wanted to do one with grays and browns, but the problem of finding the right grays was a real challenge! Everything I had was a cold, bluish gray, and I wanted warm ones. So for the first time, I used watercolors to change the paper colors. I used a wash of burnt sienna or vandyke brown on some of the granite paper and some of the Stardream metallics, and sprayed the back of my ivory Amate bark with a solution of sumi ink. I ended up very pleased with the results. Of course I played around with the design.

Kids! Test your detective skills! Can you spot at least six differences between this piece and the blue one?

14" x 24", lokta, amate bark, painted Stardream, "granite" paper (that's the textured light gray, second layer from the top)
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Comments: 5

SeaSpryte [2013-05-12 20:09:04 +0000 UTC]

What a really lovely piece. Good idea using watercolors and metallics on this. I love the different textures and the colors are wonderful.
Do you use an exacto knife to cut the paper out? And what do you use to glue the paper on? I like that it has depth, so I'm thinking you use in addition to add the depth - dots maybe?

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cloutierj In reply to SeaSpryte [2013-05-14 03:02:12 +0000 UTC]

Hi - Thank you!
I do all the cutting with an exacto knife - I buy the blades by the hundred. Glue is bookbinders' PVA from Hollanders. I like the thick PVA, sometimes mixing it with methyl cellulose to slow drying time. For spacers, I use acid-free foam board strips where they can't show. Where the support might show, I make strips of metallic paper folded lengthwise into tiny squared tubes, usually about 1/8" by 1/8" by however long they need to be. If the tubes' paper color matches what they support, they're almost invisible. Each layer is raised 1/8" to 1/4" above the one below. Which can make it a challenge to find a deep enough frame!

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SeaSpryte In reply to cloutierj [2013-05-17 02:48:25 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much for your lovely explanation. It sounds like a huge amount of work. But the results are spectacular.

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Excelia [2013-05-12 18:50:51 +0000 UTC]

This is beautiful! Your efforts to get the right colors made this really stand out.

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cloutierj In reply to Excelia [2013-05-14 02:54:27 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! It was a challenge - nice when that kind of thing turns out well, and makes you want to try more.

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