Pieces and Parts

Thank you for all the comments and emails about ginkgo trees! You just never know what's going to strike a chord.

Margaret even wrote a haiku:

Leaves, stripped bare from trees
Yellow carpet hidin green
Clearing view of blue sky.

I am now wearing a thumb brace on both hands because my left thumb was getting sore from compensating for the right.  I'm heading in the right (pun intended) direction....but I think I've got at least a couple days left of limited activities.

But I'm doing fine.  I actually went through my whole clothes closet!!!

Just before I went on my girl's trip Rosie sent me a link to a video from Maya Sozer that captured my attention. Maya gathered leaves and pine needles to create some abstract art.

You can see her video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzJmiqMu97u/

I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was finishing up chores and getting ready for my trip...but I had to give it a quick try. So I gathered some supplies and headed to the back yard.

I didn't think it was successful at the time...and knew I would try again when I got back. But while I'm resting my hands...I thought I would share my results anyway....because maybe they're not as bad as I thought.

 

Using tips from the video I lightly misted the paper before I added the debris and paint.

I used acrylic ink from bottles with droppers and the colors were shockingly bright. But it's what I had...and time was limited to mix my own colors.

After I added the drops of color I lightly misted it again.  Ultimately I may have added too much water.  Time would tell...it needed to dry....and that took a long time.

My second try was with liquid watercolor in the same kind of dropper bottles. 

Again...I used WAY to much water because it mostly all pooled together and I thought the colors seemed too saturated.  

It's all part of the trial and error process.

As I looked at the results again today....

...I realized they might not be as bad as I thought. They certainly can be the starting place for something more.

And it's much better when I isolated pieces and parts.

Here's the watercolor experiment.  It's mostly one big blob....

but the edges are kind of interesting.

This was a third one I thought was an absolute failure at the time.

But again....pieces and parts are growing on me.

I think this small piece is kind of pretty! 

When my thumbs are better....I'm going to play with these a bit more.  And hopefully try the technique again.