Work in Progress: Kuba-Inspired Wall Hanging
I'm often asked about how I do what I do. And if you're an artist too, you know the answer to that is often complicated and contains many steps. For my most recent work, a 20"x24" wall hanging, I documented much of the process and shared it on my Michelle Davis Petelinz Kindred Spirit Studios Facebook page. I now share it here, complete with photos and a more detailed description of each step.
The Preparation
The first image is a detail of the center portion of the piece. The stages prior to this were: adding gesso and tissue paper to the surface of the MDF (medium density fiberboard; a recycled wood product), to create a fabric-like texture. Once that was dry, I painted the left and right sides in a vertical gradation from deep maroon to bright yellow.
The Inspiration
I knew I wanted to continue the textile-like feel, and looked to my usual source of inspiration: Africa. For the center section, I drew in shapes inspired by Kuba cloth from the Congo, then tinted them with acrylic ink. Next, I filled in the background of the center section with acrylic paint. For the two bands on either side of the center section, I drew another African-inspired black ink design over acrylic paint.
The Ornamentation and Coloration
Meanwhile, I created polymer tiles which I would place onto the two side panels. This process involved conditioning the clay (with a new to me technique of using a small food processor to make formerly unusable, hard clay workable--thanks, Pinterest!), cutting shapes, and texturing them. I used a variety of stamps and tools to accomplish this, including my own hand cut stamps, clay tools, and unmounted rubber stamps. Once the shapes were cured, I covered them all with micaceous iron oxide, to give a rough, yet sparkly finish, and lightly sanded each. The next step is one I always enjoy: adding color to the tiles, using PearlEx powders, oil pastels, acrylic paints, inks and glazes.
The Culmination
After all tiles were colored, assembly came next; the challenge was to have both sides come out evenly at the bottom without having exactly the same elements in the progression (to me, that's boring!). After a good deal of adjusting and readjusting, I was able to make it work. The completed piece now hangs in my studio (above a papier mache mask I did for a class I teach, and a recycled wood sculpture I did on a Play Day with my Mixed Media Art Guild), and I'm so pleased with the way it turned out!
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| An example of Kuba cloth from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. |
The first image is a detail of the center portion of the piece. The stages prior to this were: adding gesso and tissue paper to the surface of the MDF (medium density fiberboard; a recycled wood product), to create a fabric-like texture. Once that was dry, I painted the left and right sides in a vertical gradation from deep maroon to bright yellow.
The Inspiration
I knew I wanted to continue the textile-like feel, and looked to my usual source of inspiration: Africa. For the center section, I drew in shapes inspired by Kuba cloth from the Congo, then tinted them with acrylic ink. Next, I filled in the background of the center section with acrylic paint. For the two bands on either side of the center section, I drew another African-inspired black ink design over acrylic paint.
The Ornamentation and Coloration
Meanwhile, I created polymer tiles which I would place onto the two side panels. This process involved conditioning the clay (with a new to me technique of using a small food processor to make formerly unusable, hard clay workable--thanks, Pinterest!), cutting shapes, and texturing them. I used a variety of stamps and tools to accomplish this, including my own hand cut stamps, clay tools, and unmounted rubber stamps. Once the shapes were cured, I covered them all with micaceous iron oxide, to give a rough, yet sparkly finish, and lightly sanded each. The next step is one I always enjoy: adding color to the tiles, using PearlEx powders, oil pastels, acrylic paints, inks and glazes.
The Culmination
After all tiles were colored, assembly came next; the challenge was to have both sides come out evenly at the bottom without having exactly the same elements in the progression (to me, that's boring!). After a good deal of adjusting and readjusting, I was able to make it work. The completed piece now hangs in my studio (above a papier mache mask I did for a class I teach, and a recycled wood sculpture I did on a Play Day with my Mixed Media Art Guild), and I'm so pleased with the way it turned out!
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| Painting in the central panel shapes. You can see the texture created by the tissue paper + gesso mixture. |
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| Filling in the background with acrylic paint. |
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| Close up of the band between the sections with black ink over acrylic paint. |
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| Textured polymer tiles just before curing. I ended up not using the copper rings seen here. |
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| Cured tiles with a coating of micaceous iron oxide. Note: the color inside the two tiles with holes is from the paper below them. |
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| Tiles with their coloring completed. |
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| The completed wall hanging. |
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