August 31st-September 1

Like many artists,

I sometimes get an idea in my head,

and until I work it out it follows me around,

like an itch in the middle of my back that I can't reach to scratch.

Yesterday I kept seeing stitching with gesso over it,

quite sure that the texture and pattern it would create

would be really nice to play with under layers of paint.

So first I painted a layer of gesso down on my pages,

then scratched a design into the wet gesso.

Next, I lightly drew in some lines in pencil, as guides for my stitching.

I used 2 ply perle cotton and stitched away.

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Once I finished stitching I lay down another heavier layer of gesso,

and glued the pages down to the pages before and after,

sealing the back sides up and securing all the stitching.

Then the fun began!

Layers and layers of paint,

rubbing it in,

rubbing it out,

until I was satisfied.

The itch was reached and scratched,

and I'm quite pleased with the results!

click on images for closer view

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