The thing I like about art is that 20 people can be given the same exact supplies and be told to do what they will
And 20 different designs will be created!
I was thinking about this as I develop my Petals as Paint technique. It started with picking up seaglass and thinking that scanning it on my printer/scanner would be a cool way to save the look of it rather than photography.
The first scan got me hooked on the idea because if I just took a picture I wouldn’t see the intricacy of a little pile of glass and shells and coral. And I especially wouldn’t see the grains of sand and little debris that surrounds it. It was so magical to me. I started scanning leaves and sticks and all manner of found objects. I fell in love with that degree of detail!
Last spring I started scanning flowers and petals and blossoms and stems.. oh that first scan nearly made me cry. It was so beautiful to see the intricacies of creation and I couldn’t then just throw them out! So I started preserving them. I pressed them the only way I knew– between pages in the Children’s Encyclopedia. That works great most of the time but I didn’t like how long it took. So I read about microwaving. That works instantly and a majority turn out beautifully preserved in color. It reminded me of paint. It’s time consuming but it’s beautiful but not for every flower. And I learned about silica. I tried a little container and it preserves them in their original shape beautifully. So I got a big airtight bucket and more and more silica and soon I was using that bucket for weeks and the petals reminded me of paint strokes. And that made me think.. what if I used the petals as paint? I don’t have my children’s gift of painting with acrylic.. but the petals come in so many hues and shades with little details already built in. All I’d have to do is find a way to stick them on a substrate and arrange them how I want, thus led me to my battle with adhesives! (See an earlier post about that!!!).
So over the past few months this has been my joyous attempt at art. Each one becomes my favorite! And I am hoping they become other people’s favorite!
And now I hope you’ll visit Whatcom Art Market in Bellingham WA to see the originals or go online and shop for products with my designs at society6.com/refindcreations or in my Etsy store which is under construction!!
©Belindabotzong2018
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