"The River"
Acrylics & Mixed Media
On

Canvas
12" X 18"

It is not often that a person can create a work of Art 

on a canvas that looks like a painting

but is not one.
This work was composed entirely without brush work.

The sizing used to affix the Gold,Variegated,

 and Silver leaf was painted on by brush.
That put an end to the actual use of any brushes.

The background on the Canvas was painted a Matte Black.

I applied Goldens Light Molding Paste to form ridges that would represent
 tree trunks 

on the Upper right 1/3 of the Canvas.

I did the same to the lower left to denote bushes.

Then I  I randomly laid down the leaf in a rough

pattern

and left it to dry.

At this stage I had not used the Copper leaf yet.

 You can see the black areas where, after the leaf had dried fully,

 I had taken a very stiff brush and scumbled areas of it to distress the Leaf.

That was it for this part of the background.

Once the base was dry I poured Goldens Green gold

atop parts of the leaf, let it sit for 20 minutes and started buffing it off.
leaving the  shiny leaf with a green undertone.
Next,

I decided where I wanted the water to be.

 I  painted sizing where I wanted the copper strips to be.

(I did not take a photo of this step, so the one above is just after I started defining the trees.)
Once the Copper Leaf dried, I then painted sizing in between the copper
and 

randomly affixed Gold and Silver leaf slivers randomly.

This gave the "Water" a visual  flowing movement.

My next step was to decide where I wanted trees to go on both sides of the River banks.
I dropped small splotches of Jenkins Green paint where I thought trees would be most pleasing and then formed them with Saran wrap.

This is a method that I learned a long time ago and I still use it a lot for shaping abstract trees on my Art.

Laying the wrap on the wet paint and manipulating it to form groves and branches is very effective. and once dried  leaves a very pleasing effect.
You can see on the tall lower tree on the right

The the detail is achieved by laying the wrap on the paint,

and  pinching the Saran wrap over the over it.
The darker lines are where the paint goes into the creases of the wrap

and are very defined when they dry.
Example 1

Example 2

The end result depends so very much on how the initial laying of the Leaf ends up,
and

what a person "Sees" in a work.

I saw, from the very beginning that this would be a landscape 

and have water running through the middle of it.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the work

this shows the Molding paste formed ridges to shape the trees.

this is a detail of the layers on the river.
You can see as well, how the Manipulated paint works with the wrap.

If you have any questions on working with this method (Saran or Cling wrap)

please comment below or send me an email.

ptunys@gmail.com

Hope you like it

~~Kathleen

"Larches in the Rain on a Late Autumn day"
16" X 18"

Acrylics & mixed media on canvas

I love Larches.

They are tough as nails, capable of almost bending in 1/2 during a wind storm,
and
straightening right up once the wind has passed.

Beautiful green, and Spruce like.

They have needles that turn gold in the Autumn and drop before the Winter sets in.
(Unlike Spruce and Pines.)

My children are fortunate enough to have a shelter-belt of Larches fronting their property.

Larches in  Canada are also called"  Tamarack"

'Tamarack' is from the Algonquin word 'akemantak' which means "wood used for snowshoes".
        Historically, tamarack was widely used in wooden ships, for timbers, planking and to join ribs to deck timbers. Native Americans used the roots to bind seams of birch bark canoes, the wood for arrow shafts and the bark medicinally.
http://www.larchwoodcanada.com/what_is_a_larch_tree

They have a "Special" feel and look.

They are quite unique in that they are
deciduous.

Most coniferous trees are evergreens, but some deciduous trees are evergreens as well. Evergreen trees keep their leaves in all seasons, lose them gradually as the weather cools

 The needles on a Larch are never quite as stiff as on an Evergreen.

This painting is  done on a base covered  randomly with molding paste to denote trunks .
It is over painted and the trees emerge.
 The photo below highlights the ridges of the paste after painting.

I hope you like this.
I kinda do!
~~Kathleen

"Fourteen Trees on a River Walk"

Acrylics on Canvas
12" X 12"
(SOLD)
An exercise in light where you have a daytime painting with no sun!
No sun means no obvious shadows, not an easy task.
But with variances in colours (blue & white only)
I did it!
Actually in this painting I have used only three colours.
Phthalo blue (Green Shade)
White  & Paynes gray

"There is always Love"

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE.

I have been working on this pair for a while now.
I am very pleased with how they turned out.
A very different style from what I usually do!
"Tryst"
12' X 12" AND 12" X 14"
ACRYLICS AND MIXED MEDIUM
On canvas.
"SOLD"

This pair is unusual as the background of both paintings is very 
defined and not smooth.
I chose to place the shiny gels atop a Matte painted canvas for contrast.
The end result 
is
striking.
(A real statement of love)

Side by side

~~Kathleen
All comments welcome.