Thursday

Scratched Sunflower

I can’t help but gush today. My friend Susan lent me Mixed Media Emulsions: Altered Art Techniques for Photographic Imagery by Angela Cartwright and I have spent the week huddled over its pages, drinking way too many cups of tea. I’m abuzz with ideas, but am trying to be methodical, working through the book’s inspirations from beginning to end.

This sunflower image (just in case you can't tell) has been sanded with an emery board and scratched with a book-making awl. I also used the latter to write words in the emulsion. After a few dabs of acrylic paint, I cut the image into close-up vignettes and re-arranged these like an unmatched jigsaw puzzle.

I find mixed media liberating. Its focus on freeing the inner child makes play and process more important than results — how perfect for my new quest to say “goodbye” to perfectionism.

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