Today's Work: Hope 1 and Hope 2

This is done on a clayboard. I masked off the area of the plant that I wanted to save, and then texturized the rest of the board, with wood icing and molding paste. When dry, I used 4 colors of color washes, using fluid acrylics and smooshed it into all the crevices. When that was dry, I brayered regular acrylics across the whole thing, using 3 colors. Then I peeled off the tape to reveal the plant underneath.

It says to me: amidst turmoil and uncertainty, hope is pure and relentless.

This piece I owe to 2 people: April, who showed us how to use regular Rit dye to "explode" color onto watercolor paper a while back. And to my nephew Ryan, who posted this Emily Dickinson quote on Facebook earlier today. It seems I was saving this paper just for this specific quote.

I've always been a fan of Emily Dickinson, and the sun seems to be emerging from the storm on this page.

It felt really good to work in the studio today; I had been away far too long.