©CLT_Abstracts (2024)

When i was in the process of renovating my new home, I was inspired to have a sage and sunflower themed kitchen/diner. I had seen an image of someone else’s sunny home on Pinterest and from there, I decided to create the perfect focal point for the space. I knew I wanted to have a sunflower as the main theme, but I also wanted to make it a mixed-media painting with collage and metallic areas. I also wanted to include different textures with wastepaper scraps, layers of varying mediums and a quote or poem that has been typed on a typewriter.

I started by adding lime and forest green acrylic paint over the dried gesso. I dropped the paint directly on the canvas and moved it around until it looked like a blurry meadow. I did this to create movement in the background. I also made sure the edges were painted in the same colours so that it created a 3-D effect wrapping around the frame. And then created some shimmering grass like structures at the bottom. Over this I started to sketch out as sunflower shape and then went onto add texture paste onto the Centre as if to make it look like real sunflower seeds in the middle then started to add various yellow and orange shades of acrylic paint to the petals in a smooth manner but again with a 3-D appearance to suggest the sunflower was moving in the wind. I also painted it as if it was at an angle for this reason.

The next part was adding Brown paint with some other metallic shades to the centre of the sunflower as if to show the sunlight on it. I also added almost fluffy like brush marks with a sponge to the edge of the brown middle area so there wasn’t a harsh line there moving in to where the petals are. I then went back over the petals with acrylic marker pens and paint to show the details of the petals. As one of my signature additions is to add metallic accents, I did this on the petals and the centre which made it look more realistic but also quite playful in an abstract way.

Once the flower was created, i then took one of the pages from my sketchbook that I’d previously done with shimmering green watercolour and acrylic ink. I ripped the paper into shredded pieces and wanted to embed them into the painting. So I added texture paste to some mixed green paint and then applied that to the bottom left and right corner areas with a sponge in a dabbing motion. I then pressed the strips of paper into this and dabbed some more texture paste and paint over the top. This created the idea of reeds of grass beneath the sunflower. I emphasised this with varying shimmery watercolour lines over the top and around the sections. I then used Posca pens to draw on abstract curled ferns. To accent these are used small brush to dab on shimmering green and gold marks before adding gold leaf as well.

Around the top left and right sections, and above the sunflower, I used a selection of iridescent acrylics to make small, repetitive leaf marks, as if like raindrops. this was inspired by previous work I had made where I had pressed stencil into texture paste and painted over this to make interesting marks. This time, I didn’t want to use a stencil. I just wanted to paint the marks on. The combination of colours and metallics created a really pleasing aesthetic.

The next area I wanted to focus on was the quote of poem and originally I was going to place the words around the sunflower in each corner. But in the end I didn’t want to cover up some of the nice marks that I had made. I also played around with using stamps and ink to make the lettering but it didn’t come out very well. So, instead, I discovered I could buy green ink for my typewriter and I figured that would work really well with the overall look of the painting. It would add to the meadow appearance. I had some words come to me from my deceased Gran and decided to use them. It says “Darling, bloom into the person you were always meant to be”. I placed them at the bottom of the painting in the centre underneath the sunflower.

The final thing I wanted to add was some Posca pen doodles of daisy like flowers that were built around the words I had collaged on to the piece. Of course, I also added my signature in the bottom right corner in silver for authenticity. I’m really pleased with how this artwork turned out and the overall feeling it added to the space it was created for. The light catches it in such a way, that it almost looks like the sunflower is swaying in the breeze, just how I painted it. I also really like the different sections of the piece and the layers to it, as there is always something new to see each time I look at it. I think this would translate well into limited edition prints. If you would like to see these added to my website, please leave a comment to express your interest Thank you.