Tuesday Texture

When I think of visual texture, the images that first come to mind are of old, tattered, surfaces--peeling paint, scratch marks, weathering, discolorations--I don't think of anything new, especially new life. But the coat of this newborn fawn  is so appealing with the spots and color changes across her body. Quite a difference from Mom's coat that appears old and tattered. Here's to finding lovely texture in these early days of June.

SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVING IS ALL ABOUT ART IN THE GARDEN

School is out, last child has graduated from high school, weather is warm and this new empty nester is planning a summer of art in the garden. I'm starting with making sunprints using all the wonderful leaves that are now sprouting in my garden. I've posted before about sunprints and how much I love them. I love using leaves as the mask because there is such a variety to be found if one takes the time to look.

Sunprints are easy to make. I use natural fiber fabrics and transparent Setacolor paints by Pebeo. Just paint your fabric with a 2:1 water to paint ratio and lay down leaves or any flat object you choose to use as a mask. Lay in a hot sunny area and within 15-20 minutes an image will begin to appear. I live in Colorado so we have lots of strong sunlight. You may have to adjust the time depending on the area you live in. I also have to deal with a lot of wind, so on windy days, I just lay the fabric in a sunny window and I still get great results. Here are a few shots of some prints that I made awhile back and have turned into note cards. They are listed in my etsy shop (http://pdlugos.etsy.com/)