Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
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Brown Curls
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Brown Curls by Amy Crook, $199
Today’s piece uses the pink Himalayan sea salt on a wash of golden yellow. Then I made little curls around each salt pool in two shades of brown, which reminded me a bit of tumbling locks of curling brown hair in the sunshine, with gems or perhaps droplets of water caught in them.
Brown Curls, 4″x8″ salt and watercolor on paper, $199 framed, with free shipping.
Brown Curls, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the way the minerals in the pink salt settle out and add their own pigment to the painting, as well as getting a sense of the subtle sparkle the salt adds to the painting. I ship the salt paintings safely framed so that the three-dimensional crystal structures arrive in place and ready to display.
Tags: brown, for sale, salt, watercolor, yellow
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Copper Beeches
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Copper Beeches by Amy Crook, $323
This is one of those pieces that’s frustratingly difficult to color match or photograph in any reasonably representative way. The background is warm golds and orange-browns with layers of spirals in more browns and metallic copper. The salt pools are all centered over shiny copper spirals, though the salt itself didn’t pick up much color at all from either the background or the copper. There’s even a few golden leaves floating subtly through everything else, and that and the original Sherlock Holmes story are where the piece gets its name.
Copper Beeches, 8″x8″ salt and watercolor on paper, $323 framed with free shipping.
Copper Beeches, detail, by Amy Crook
Tags: brown, copper, for sale, gold, orange, salt, watercolor
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Ultramarine
Friday, January 20th, 2012
Ultramarine by Amy Crook, $299
I’ve been wanting something other than plain white for backgrounds on the salt pieces just for contrast, so this time I painted the paper with a very light yellow wash and added in some slightly darker spirals to the mix. This whole piece is really about spirals, from the little watercolor stick spirals that didn’t dissolve even a tiny bit into the salt, to the big ones around the pools. It gets its name from the shade of blue, of course, ultramarine both inside and outside the salt pools.
Ultramarine, 6″x6″ watercolor and salt on paper, $299 framed, with free shipping.
In the same way that my scanner likes to think white paper is really blue, my camera often splashes them with red, so I’d say the real color is somewhere in between the detail below and the scan above. Oh, technology.
Ultramarine, detail, by Amy Crook
Tags: blue, for sale, salt, watercolor, yellow
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Dichrome
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Dichrome by Amy Crook
Despite the rather random way this image came about (and really, do my abstract pieces come about any other way?), I’m really in love with the stuttering flow of the paint and the subtle transition from warm orange to cool, soft blue. The salt pools came later, using a black ink that separates in water into brown and blue, which mixed beautifully with the pink Himalayan salt.
The swoop of paint reminds me of clouds at sunset, breaking up as they rise up into the sky, but then I’m not sure what the salt pools would become, though they were absolutely necessary for the visual balance of the piece.
Dichrome, 6″x6″ watercolor, ink and salt on paper, nfs (sold).
There’s a lot of variation in the salt pools this time around, and here you can really see the colors of them and how they echo the paint colors.
Dichrome, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And here’s another view of the same section that allows you to really appreciate the geometric crystals in the big pool, and the chunk of pink salt with its rough surfaces that’s nearby. I always find the close-up photos of the salt crystal formations fascinating.
Dichrome, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Tags: blue, nfs, orange, salt, sold, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art | 2 Comments »
ATC: Flourish
Monday, January 16th, 2012
Flourish, artist trading card by Amy Crook
I still have a bunch in my pack of Artist Trading Cards, so I decided to pull one out and just doodle a bit. Once I’d drawn in the little vine pattern in the corner, the word “flourish” sprung to mind so I went ahead and wrote it in messy calligraphy. Then I got out a brush and, using water and the ink already on the card, I smoothed out the shapes, and even ‘painted’ some new ones.
The whole thing has a feel of decorative whimsy, which goes quite well with the idea of adding flourishes, and also of flourishing in a more personal sense, at least for me. A life without whimsy or decoration would be awfully boring, after all.
Flourish, 3.5″x2.5″ ink on paper, nfs (but available for trading).
We actually had some sunshine this morning, so I took a photo and got a slightly better view of the very pale details in the middle of the card.
Flourish, detail, by Amy Crook
If you’re an artist who makes ATCs of your own, and are coveting this one, let me know!
Tags: aceo, atc, brush and ink, calligraphy, decorative, pen and ink
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Green Blue Violet
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Green Blue Violet, abstract art by Amy Crook, $199
In contrast to the warm, cheerful harmony of Red Orange Yellow, today’s piece has the spiky green and swirly blue fighting over the tiny violet salt pools. Both of the paint colors were quite granulating, giving a rich texture to the large areas, and interesting color variation where the paint separated. The salt pools also had separating paint, the rich violet turning to pink salt and blue-violet spirals.
Green Blue Violet, 8″x8″ watercolor and salt on paper, $199 framed, with free shipping.
Here you can see the midnight blue swirling around one of the last salt pools it’s captured, with the earthy, grass-stain green just barely visible in the background.
Green Blue Violet, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And below you can see a salt pool that’s surrendered to the blue paint, which creeps in between the crystals to dye them in camouflage.
Green Blue Violet, detail 2, by Amy Crook
You’re welcome to email me if you’d like some help figuring out how to bring this piece into your home, or just want to chat away from the comments.
Tags: blue, for sale, green, salt, violet, watercolor
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Red Orange Yellow
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Red Orange Yellow by Amy Crook, $199
Another experiment with salt and watercolor, this time the salt picked up just a touch of the colour, turning the salt crystals a sort of transparent pale red that manages not to be very pink at all. I stuck to the warm, sunny end of the spectrum, with swooping zen circles of gold, complementary swishes of orange and just little hints of red creeping back in and blending into the orange at the edges.
I’ll frame it in an 8″x10″ frame with a mat, but right now I’m busy with a big website launch for a client (I can’t wait to show you the header painting!), so anything that needs matting is on the back burner — unless it sells, of course!
Red Orange Yellow, 4″x8″ watercolor and salt on paper, $199 framed, with free shipping.
Cold winter sunlight casts the paper in blue, but the warmth of the paint can’t be dampened in this detail photo.You can really see how the salt is tinged with red from this angle, too.
Red Orange Yellow, detail, by Amy Crook
If you think you’d like to brighten up your home or office with this piece but you’ve got questions, or if you’d just like to chat but don’t want to comment, feel free to drop me a line!
Tags: for sale, orange, red, salt, watercolor, yellow
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