Sunday, April 4, 2010

ain't no cure


'lester' and 'peg' (below) were both done on plaster cloth with a muslin backing. i now feel like i could be the colored pencil, cover-up-your-bad-art, draw-with-your-left-hand AND plaster cloth ambassador to the world, ha!

muslin, plaster cloth, acrylic paint, collage elements, colored pencil, matte gel medium, oil pastels (same for lester)


peg and a roll of plaster cloth, plus the pencils and oil pastels i used for her face. the pencils are prismacolor light and dark umber; the oil pastels are sennelier titanium buff and brown ochre, and caran d'ache cream - in case it's helpful.


some more pages in my 4 x 4 muslin journals... am contemplating what size to make the next journal.




i used colors here that i don't normally use and got all twisted around... but i learned a few good things...


a pogo print of lester - this is one of my favorite things to do with the pogo, hee! take pics of pieces that leave home! but, i also wanted to say a few things about the pogo... amazon has a great price on packs of 50 now; if you run the blue sheet through each time before you print you won't have a problem with streaking; and, as far as i can tell (from reading), the paper doesn't really expire even though it has an expiration date. in the same way that ink cartridges have an expiration date, law requires this inkless paper to have one (i know, crazy). anyway, it sounds like it's best to store it in a cool place if you have a lot of it, but it doesn't expire.


these stamps! have you seen them? the motherwell stamp is almost 2" x 2"! i left this really big so you can click and read everything...


there were a few photos in the taschen matisse book that really moved me. one was this of matisse when he was about 80 and bedridden. he put a piece of charcoal on the end of a fishing rod so he could lay in bed and draw on his white walls...


and this of the matisse room in the home of russian art collector shchukin. if you click you can see how he's hung matisse's paintings on top of other stuff that was already on the wall. what exuberance! the one on the far right is hanging over the top of a mirror!

this week reading walker percy, listening to leonard cohen and gazing at matisse - savoring human genius...

* * *

"...I've also studied deeply in the philosophies of the religions, but cheerfulness kept breaking through... (uproarious laughter) But I want to tell you something that I think will not easily be contradicted: There ain't no cure for love."

~ Leonard Cohen, Live in London


XO

28 comments:

  1. Hail Ambassador LH! I bought my plaster cloth yesterday and was going to ask how you use it. I suppose cut a piece and dip in water then apply to muslin? Let dry maybe and then paint away? That is my plan so far anyway. lol!

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  2. Hey there,
    I have been looking closely at the above images and find them fascinating. The soft lines framing the faces are frail, almost transient. And yet, something very powerful is making itself felt here, as if beneath the innocence, something much more darker lurks. Great work!

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  3. Lynne these plaster pages are amazing. I love the way your colours work on the plaster and the texture...very distressed looking (thanks for sharing the colours etc. you use).
    We have plaster wrap in Australia which I used for pages in a class with Stephanie Lee, but it doesnt look nearly as wide as yours.
    I'd love to know how you attach it to the muslin too. Does it just adhere when both pieces are wet and pegged together?
    Really enjoying your plaster work.

    Jacky xox

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  4. I especially love your cat...and Leonard Cohen...and your blog.
    Drawing with a fishing pole? That is an extreem sport :D
    Hugs

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  5. Love this post! Your plaster work is so inspiring. Lester and Peg are too cool! Thanks for sharing all you do.

    Hugs Patti

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  6. Peg is so primitive and a little bit scary to me but I love the colors you used. I love that Lenny album, and that quote is one I have used, it's great, cheerfulness kept breaking through. It's true, there ain't no cure for love. Who would want to cure it, anyway?

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  7. that second image seems shamanistic... :)

    savoring human genius! ah... so nice to read that! Totally agree with Matisse about drawing on the white walls, gotta do what you gotta do!

    Spent the evening walking barefoot in the ocean while the sun set into the surf, how i wanted my camera~! Yes, Sometimes we just have to be our own abserver of the brilliance out there, and not try to "catch" it. What is it we are savoring when in nature? That Genius that is us, and will always be here, that that! We carry a pine cone home and it is in that, we carry a bird nest home and it is in that, we carry beach glass home and etc... and the dulce and the fish i ate, and this blog, it is is is!

    etc. :)

    SPRING...exo..blessings.

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  8. Lovely, full, interesting post. I had to google plaster cloth and oh the possibilities! Your muslin pages delight and I'm loving the effects you've achieved in the Peg piece which I enlarged and studied from corner to corner. Amazing photo of Matisse too.

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  9. Savoring human genius...what better way to spend a day ?
    Loving the faces - that burst of red on the lady's hat was fun to see - kind of woke me from a calm, soft place.
    Matisse at 80...amazing...
    Lynne, and me, and life today...pretty damn amazing too.
    Love to you, you lovely Life-Lover.

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  10. Oh Boy, plaster cloth. I sure have a ton of this stuff and will use some of it on my muslin. I love your pages and how soft the lines and dreamy backgrounds you do. Fantastic! Keep creating your magic and thanks for links.
    Cheers

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  11. great reading and viewing all the richness in this post Lynne! I absolutely love lester and peg! and matisse - what can I say about matisse... xox

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  12. Not just ambassador, but Queen of it all!

    (I love Walker Percy. The Moviegoer is one of my alltime favourite books.)

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  13. your work is awesome :) i'm always inspired when i stop by your blog!
    xoxo

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  14. janine, ambassador LH here, hee! yeah, just what you said - that's all i do. i'm putting two layers down...

    zaina, i think that what you've written is so beautiful. thank you... personally i don't feel that's what's behind the faces is dark, but somehow just *bigger*... xo

    hey sweet jacky, yes, the plaster cloth just sticks to the muslin... i cut up pieces and lay them down (after i dip them in water). it seems like you can make the page any size you want by just laying pieces next to each other. i'm using two layers now... xo

    hee, lisa! yeah, art as extreme sport. well it is!!!!!!!! xo

    hiya, patti... oh you are so welcome. thank you for coming here...

    oh jan, i think if you met peg in person she wouldn't be scary. she has a gentle nature... lol, i know, who would want to cure love? it's so great the way he says it all, isn't it? i have a mental picture of cheerfulness breaking through. : )

    yeah, m., the genius IS everywhere. the magic... are you having spring there? we still aren't! as for shamanistic, well they are coming through this way... exoxo

    hi robyn, thanks for looking at peg close up... i think she's meant to be looked at like that. : ) matisse in bed - isn't that wonderful? what a person he was... xo

    hee, kim! that hat is something isn't it?! : ) i agree... you, me, life today, pretty amazing... i mean, you in vermont and me thousands of miles away, and we're sending each other our hearts!! walk on Big Heart...

    michelle, you must add some to your giant journal... : )

    julie - that is EXACTLY the way i felt when i found out about them!!!

    hey karin... thank you. yep, matisse is really beyond words. love to you...

    thank you, colette! smiling to see you here... : )

    ah erin, thank you. that's how i feel about your blog and the work you do... xo

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  15. I love your new pictures.

    That picture of Matisse is amazing isn't it. You can't stop an artist from creating :)

    Have a wonderful wee xxJ

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  16. Lester and Peg are amazing...layers of good stuff, and then Matisse!!! Thanks....

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  18. http://deirdradoan.blogspot.com/2010/04/europe-arting-ideas.html

    http://deirdradoan.blogspot.com/2010/03/venitian-muslin-art-journal.html

    Hi Lynne, I made a muslin journal...it is so fun. Now I have to try the plaster. Do you wet it and place it on the muslin?

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  19. hi jasmine, and thank you. : )

    thank you, jaxx... smiing to see you...

    deirdra, as you already know, i am smitten with your journal and your painting. so beautiful and so you... yes, all i do is dip the pc in water and lay it on the muslin. the muslin doesn't buckle or wrinkle, and the plaster is stuck right to it. the only disadvantage of doing this in a journal is that then it's not bendable, which is what comes in so handy with a travel journal. xo

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  20. Fun post. Love seeing Matisse and his long stick

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  21. What a lovely, inspiring post this is. I never thought of plaster cloth to use as a canvas, but now i'm surely gonna try.
    Lester and Peg are awesome! And i thik the print is stunning.... (had to google pogo print lol)
    And yes Matisse.... creating till the end.

    Tnx for the inspirations.

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  22. Ok I think these faces are so weird, I love them! LOL they are weirdly compelling to look at! I find my self grinning ear to ear I have to really go an check this out. Do you think I can sew through it??

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  23. I can't imagine a better ambassador than you!

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  24. fabulous post Lynne... the photo of matisse brings tears to my eyes... no stopping the passion to create... your work is awesome.. lester and Peg are splendid!

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  25. that is such a cool idea - drawing on the plaster cloth with the fabric behind it. i am going to have to experiment with that! you are so creative and i love your work!!

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  26. I love Matisse too...I'd forgotten about the stick and charcoal drawing...a technique that may be handy someday. I love your art too...are the pieces in this post all 4x4?
    hug, hug

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