Art Therapy

Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life. 

Pablo Picasso

I have to say that I love my everyday life.  I have a wonderful husband and children.  My part-time teaching appointment at ACU provides for generativity in my professional life.  Turning Point Counseling offers a haven in the guise of a workplace.  But the need for a creative outlet nagged at me.  But God was in charge of my life without even knowing to ask for help in that area!  I found myself wandering around Art Walk one Thursday evening in May and stumbled across TM Gand!  I loved her studio, and impulsively, decided to begin acrylic classes with her.

Here is my starting out art project from the first month of lessons.

From the top left, Traci taught me a series of techniques.  The first is wet paint over wet paint.  The  middle is called water color, which is acrylic paint diluted with water.  The top right painting is called scrumbling, using undiluted paint with a dry brush.  The bottom left picture was done by painting a layer on the bottom, allowing it to dry and then coming back with a wet layer on top.  The next picture is called scraffito. A layer of paint is laid down and allowed to dry, then another layer is on top is scratched through to reveal the color underneath.  The final apple is painted using acrylic paint diluted with glaze, which allows the paint to be transparent.

 

The top left apple on the second panel is painted using impasto, meaning that the area is built up using light modeling paste, then painted. The modeling paste is very absorbent, causing the paint to look duller than usual.  The top left apple is painted red on the bottom, allowed to dry and then a paint that has been peeled from the non-stick palate after it drying is adhered using gel.  The bottom right apple is a collage technique, and the middle one is a combination of collage and peel and stick.  The final apple is painted with acrylic paints diluted with gel medium and using a bristle brush to simulate oil paint.