Working Backwards!

I make my art backwards. I always START by creating a body of random painted, patterned papers. No ideas in mind. Just immersed in papers, paints, dyes, stencils, spackle...anything at hand. I add layer over layer looking for a complexity that pleases my eye...I have no idea what will emerge. These paper form the basis of my subsequent work. It is only later that I get an idea and begin to create a piece of art, usually suggested by the the paper itself. After 20+ years of doing this I am STILL amazed to find among my other collage material "matches" to the most unusual colors, patterns, and happy paint accidents.

Recently (see blog from October 8, 2013) a crazy color-dying afternoon a few weeks ago resulted in a big new batch of papers. In the case of the leaves below - I noticed that one large sheet had all these colors in the amazing subtle and bright blends of fall leaves, so I cut out leaves. Oh my!! That is when magic happens for me. They LOOK like fall leaves!! I personally could not have painted these individual leaves so beautifully...(other people can and do, and I admire them)...because, well, lol, I work backwards.