For John who asked "How is that done?"

 

So, I have been working on My Japanese composition, but as is with many art works it is on hold for a while, so I can regroup and decide where I want to go with it, more on that painting later....
But, In the Meanwhile,  A few friends and I on Facebook were looking at
a composition done in threads and trying to figure out how it was done.
This is the work, and sadly I do not know who the artist is, so if anyone out there does, please let me know and I will give proper credit to this fabulous artisan.

The discussion on how this work was composed opened up another world to me.
And that is about how many people "Look" at art and wonder just that!
"How was this done?"
While I do have an idea, I am not sure, but for my many non`artist friends I will try to show you some of the products I use to get the looks I do.
The other day I was looking at a Cedar tree that did not make it through the Winter.
The fronds were a Golden Yellow and really quite beautiful.
So I snipped a few off the poor tree and brought them in thinking "Maybe I can do something with this."

They were so elegant in the way they fanned out.
So the problem was what to do?

I got out my old Window (Yes, an Old Window framed is a wonderful base to pour medium on and enables easy removal when the pouring medium is dry).

I cleaned it so the glass was streak/dust free, edged the sides with Duct tape to the size I wanted the completed gel to be.

Then I poured a good amount of "Goldens" self leveling clear gel  on the area I was going to use.

This is a good clear loose pouring medium.

I spread it out so I had about 1/4 " in total coverage and then began dropping the fronds on top.
While doing this I would snip the fronds that were too high or turned and repositioned them on the gel.

 I ended up with this.

Most of the fronds were covered, and I set it outside to dry after placing tin foil below the glass to heat (and quicken up) the get to enable to speed the drying process up.

 You can see the foil attached to the underpart of the glass to allow quicker heating in the Sun.

I let it dry fully (about two days, and added another layer of gel atop so that 99% of the fronds were now covered in the medium and set it out to dry again.
(The Sun works wonderfully in tandem with the foil in speeding up this process)
You can see some of the areas that are almost dry if you enlarge this photo by clicking on it.
These areas are mainly between the fronds where the darker foil is beginning to see through."Once fully dry and totally clear with no clouding at all I peeled the acrylic skin off the glass and ......
And I ended up with this.

A somewhat plyable clear skin (almost like a clear rubber)

that is glassy and contains the frond.
The two following photos show how clear the medium becomes,
I held it up to the Dining room window for an example.

 Now I have to decide what to do with this, but in the meanwhile it is resting on Parchment paper waiting to be affixed to a canvas and adorned.

It is important to know that the Acrylic skin is very adhesive and will stick to itself

 easily.
Parchment paper is a wonderful product that nothing sticks to so I use it as a kind of folder for the skin until I am ready to use it.
I hope this made sense to all of you.
More on this later as well.....
Later all

~~Kathleen