Paint and Stamps

I had a great time at the reception for the Printmaking Show at Gerrard Art Space where I met some of the other artists and saw some excellent prints. After that and before going to Montreal for a sweltering!!! but great week, I finished a piece I’ve been working on that’s a continuation of the old and new theme.

In this one, I painted loosely with acryl gouache in bright colours–another experiment with the new colours and paint I’m learning to use. I had  intended to glue parts of an old print to the board, but that didn’t feel quite right for this one. Instead I took several old stamps I’d made years ago, slathered them with the paint and printed them randomly on the gesso board itself.  I liked the unknown aspect of this–I realized that parts of the stamps would not show up or would blur and was interested in seeing what textures they’d create. I first used this process in another piece I’m still working on and want to do more of this in the future.

This painting/print is unlike anything I’ve done. It reminded me of a fantasy forest and looks to me like a design for wallpaper or fabric. Here’s the whole piece and a close up to show some of the stamped images.