Shop – Abstract and Just Plain Weird « Antemortem Arts

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Spiral Splash

Friday, April 6th, 2012

Spiral Splash, abstract art by Amy Crook, $299

This is another of those pieces that looks different from every angle. From the three dimensional salt to to the iridescent paint, it catches the light and the eye differently depending on how you look at it.

In this case I painted in the swishy, splashy gold spirals, and then added the blue-infused salt water in a bit of controlled chaos. Then I repeated the experiment with blue spirals, so some of the shapes are rimed in cold blue while others are edged in gilt.

Spiral Splash, watercolor and salt on paper, $299 framed, with free shipping.

Spiral Splash, detail 1, by Amy Crook

You can really see the difference in the blue and gold paints in the shot above, with the cold, grainy blue making the left side look like it’s frosted over, while the shining gold on the left adds a rich warmth to the shape on the right. Below, I took a photo of the whole thing from the top down. I especially like the progression of color in the shape in the lower right, the way you can really see that the blue paint settled into the center of each shape while the gold floated to the edges.

Spiral Splash, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Tags: black paper, blue, for sale, gold, iridescent, salt, watercolor
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Spiral Islands

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Spiral Islands by Amy Crook, $333

This is actually the first piece I started with my salt-saturated solution, before adding the blue paint to the bottle. I was experimenting with the delivery, which is much less precise, trying to make spirals to go with the messy scribbled-pen spirals already on the page. You can see where they intersected, the salt water picked up the brown pigment from the black ink and left the rest behind, giving those pools an orange cast.

After I painted in the blue-black background, the whole thing reminded me of a cluster of islands in some turbulent ocean. I especially like how some of the salt spirals are nearly intact, while others are barely a suggestion of broken lines.

Spiral Islands, mixed media on paper, $333 framed, with free shipping.

Spiral Islands, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a close-up of just one of the salt spirals and how it intersects with the ink spiral beneath it. The two separate pools got different amounts of ink infused into them, so the lower one is visibly orange while the upper curl is barely off white.

Below, I’ve taken a shot of the lay of the land, as it were, and this shining, mysterious little archipelago makes a great computer wallpaper.

Spiral Islands, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Once it’s safely tucked into its frame, it feels even more map-like to me. Here there be dragons, I guess?

Spiral Islands, framed art by Amy Crook, $333

Tags: black, blue, for sale, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | 1 Comment »

Blue Moon 2

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

Blue Moon 2, abstract art by Amy Crook, $323

Even though this piece shares a name and some materials with my first Blue Moon, that’s about all they have in common. The blues in this are all muted except for the vivid French Ultramarine moon itself, and even the little halos of iridescent paint became quite subtle painted wet-in-wet.

I made the 7 stars the usual way with paint and salt and water, but the moon was part of my newest experiment where I put paint into some water I had already saturated with as much salt as I could boil into it. Pretty much all of this week’s art was made with this technique, for some fascinating results. Sparkly ones!

Blue Moon 2, 5″x5.25″ salt and watercolor on paper, $323 framed, with free shipping.

Blue Moon 2, detail 1, by Amy Crook

You can see little particles of the iridescent paint around the borders of the halo, and I thought the shot of the moon itself came out so well I made a wallpaper for you. Yes, you.

Below, you can see the lightning-like formations around the edges of some of the pools, and the way I brushed the outer rim of the salt pools with the blue-black paint, which sinks into the crevices and gives it deep shadows.

Blue Moon 2, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Since this one isn’t quite square, I haven’t framed it yet, but it’ll get its lovely black frame before it goes to live in its new home.

Tags: black, blue, for sale, moon, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Shop - Flowers, Trees and Landscapes | No Comments »

Pattern Recognition

Friday, March 30th, 2012

Pattern Recognition, abstract art by Amy Crook

This piece started out as tiny bead-like droplets of salt-infused ink on the paper. The salt crystals that grew were small and black, evenly spaced across the ink circles, and the ink was actually coating the salt so they hardly sparkled at all. I took a wet brush and idly doodled the uppermost right-hand pattern by re-wetting the ink and drawing it out in three long, swooping lines. Using water to separate this ink shows off its complex color structure of blue and orangey-brown, and so I used the same method to make patterns around the rest of the ink dots as well.

Since I gently dissolved some of the ink off of the salt crystals, they regained a tiny bit of sparkle, so this image that could have been boring black and white had I made it with pen and ink, has a three-dimensional, full-color palette of tiny details. Sometimes it’s worth it to do things the ridiculously complicated way.

Pattern Recognition, 5″x5.25″ ink and salt on paper, $234 framed, with free shipping.

The detail shot below shows off both the color variation in the “black” ink, and the dull shine of the tiny salt crystals. To give you a sense of scale, the entire design in this photo is about the size of a quarter.

Pattern Recognition, detail, by Amy Crook

I haven’t yet framed this piece, it’s just a tiny bit too big for a 5″x5″ frame, so it’ll get mounted into a larger 8″x8″ frame before going to its new home.

Tags: brush and ink, for sale, ink, salt
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Interfering Blues

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Interfering Blues, abstract art by Amy Crook, $234

This is another of those pieces that’s challenging to photograph, and I totally did it to myself. I had the lovely ultramarine spirals already as a simple, elegant piece, but they sat around for weeks feeling unfinished before I got my new shiny Japanese watercolors. I used the blue from the pearlescent set to paint a second set of ghostly spirals atop the first, which are barely visible from some angles, and from others take on a lovely iridescent blue hue.

I’m definitely doing well with my new year’s resolution to paint more spirals on things, and I have to admit there’s something I find really charming about this particular set. The colors and shapes are very simple and bold, but they work for me.

Interfering Blues, 6″x6″ watercolor on paper, $234 with free shipping.

Interfering Blues, detail 1, by Amy Crook

These pieces are deeply frustrating to photograph. For instance here, the paper is really a nice bright white, but since the shine is even brighter but also blue, I can’t really color balance the way I’d like to. But, at least you can see the pale blue shine on some of the spirals at this angle!

Interfering Blues, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Above is more of a close-up of just one spiral, which captures the full range of color on the paint from a pearly warm white on the right to the shining blue on the left. This is such a nifty image I made a computer wallpaper of it, if you’d like a little more interference blue in your day.

The piece ships unframed for $234, but if you’d like me to frame it for you (or want to talk about anything, really!), feel free to email me about it.

Tags: blue, for sale, interference, iridescent, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »

In the Spiraling Blue

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

In the Spiraling Blue, abstract art by Amy Crook, $333

This art is deceptively simple, just one color of paint on the soft, cream paper. French Ultramarine is a rich, bright blue and it mixes pretty well with the salt to give a pale blue tint to the crystals without dulling their luster. This is the last of 3 pieces I did experimenting with various shades of blue paint, and it sat around the longest, trying to figure out what else it needed.

It turns out, it just needed for me to decide it was finished.

Sometimes art is like that, there’s always the temptation to take it one step further and possibly ruin it. This sat in my shelf for a few weeks while I glanced over and considered what else I might do with it, and eventually I realized that the strong, swooping spirals were enough by themselves, especially mixed with the tiny ones at the center of each salt pool.

In the Spiraling Blue, 7″x5″ salt and watercolor on paper, $333 framed, with free shipping.

In the Spiraling Blue, detail 1, by Amy Crook

The camera really shows both the soft sky blue color of the salt and the way it sparkles in the sunlight. It also tends to wash the paper with slightly more yellow than it has, giving the whole thing a blue-and-gold feeling that’s more subtle in the real thing. This iPhone wallpaper shows off the real colors a little better.

In the Spiraling Blue, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Tags: blue, for sale, salt, spirals, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »

Outlier

Friday, March 16th, 2012

Outlier, abstract art by Amy Crook, $399

Sometimes I can’t really explain why I like a piece of art, I just really do, and this is one of those. The scan really doesn’t do it justice, the green whorls and rays, and the purple lines joining the various salt pools. This one started with the salt pools in varying color intensities, then I put in the gel pen lines, and finally the spirals of watercolor. The watercolor picked up the glitter from the pen lines, and so there’s a subtle shimmer all through each one.

Outlier, 5″x7″ mixed media on paper, $399 framed, with free shipping.

Outlier, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Above is the smallest, darkest and furthest-flung of the salt pools. There’s a little scribbled spiral of purple around just this one outlying pool, and you can see how the glitter got distributed all through the spiral of watercolor. Below, a photo of three of the other pools in a row (and that wash of red in the upper left my camera seems determined to give this paper, sigh). I made an iPhone wallpaper of a similar shot, and I’m using it for my lock screen right now. Or at least until I change my mind again.

Outlier, detail 2, by Amy Crook

I like the way it looks in a frame, too, as though everything’s pulling against the purple lines and trying to find a way to sneak out of the frame entirely, tied together by forces you can’t quite name.