Posts Tagged ‘for sale’
Green to Blue
Friday, August 5th, 2011
Green to Blue, abstract art by Amy Crook, $299
This abstract work uses the same soft celadon green Crane & Co. cardstock as Hibiscus Green, but is a much more complex piece. I used a green pen for the salt pools, which ended up with a much less uniform color to them than most of mine, the ink staying more firmly soaked into the paper so that the salt rises pale and shining above the darker green centers. I used watercolor for the surroundings, trying to expand the palette without covering up the gorgeous, subtle hue of the paper completely.
Green to Blue, 6.375″x4.25″ mixed media on paper, $299 with free shipping.
Here you can see a view of one of the formations at the center of the piece, with light shining on the fine line of redistributed salt in the blue paint.
Green to Blue, detail, by Amy Crook, $299
I don’t have a frame for this piece yet, but I’ve made a computer wallpaper and iPhone wallpaper of this piece for you to enjoy.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: blue, crane and co, for sale, green, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
Vine Glory
Thursday, August 4th, 2011
Vine Glory by Amy Crook, $333
I wasn’t sure what to do with these glowing green florets after I’d created them on the page, but after looking again at Goth Vines I decided to take a different tack with the same idea. The hibiscus tea I used for the flowers blurred out into softer shapes than I’d originally expected, but it went with the softness of the green florets. I used a the green pen on the vines as inhabits the salt circles, and then signed the piece with the same orange that decorates each blossom with a hint of pollen.
The pink trumpet-like flowers look a bit like morning glories to me, and so I couldn’t resist punning a bit with the title. Since this piece is so decorative, I also made an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper out of it for you.
Vine Glory, 5″x7″ mixed media on watercolor paper, $333, framed, with free shipping.
I used the other side of this paper, which has a different texture, and the result was much softer salt formations, though I still got the haloing effect the crystals aren’t nearly so defined as in Snowflakes or Aglow.
Vine Glory, detail, by Amy Crook
I ended up having to remove the very bottom of this piece in order to make it fit in a frame, just the last, translucent 1/8″ or so where the ink was blurring anyway.
Vine Glory, framed, by Amy Crook, $333
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Free Wallpapers
Tags: for sale, hibiscus, pen and ink, salt, tea
Hibiscus Blue 4
Monday, August 1st, 2011
Hibiscus Blue 4, abstract art by Amy Crook, $444
This fourth installment of my Hibiscus Blue series is even simpler than #2, with thin, sharp-edged indigo spirals swirling around the lighter blue salt circles. The cool, subdued colors let the lines themselves set the tone. The rhythm of this piece is quite playful, like raindrops in a puddle at the very start of a warm summer storm when only a dozen or so drops have hit.
Hibiscus Blue 4, 7″x5″ mixed media on watercolor paper, $444, framed, with free shipping.
Hibiscus Blue 4, detail, by Amy Crook
The salt circles are very simple this time, no fancy formations, just a soft hint of blue with an echo of the original spiral at the center of each one. When it’s tucked into its simple black frame, you can really get a sense of the motion of the brush in every stroke and swirl.
Hibiscus Blue 4, framed art by Amy Crook, $444
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: for sale, hibiscus, hibiscus blue, pen and ink, salt, tea
The Eyes Have It
Saturday, July 30th, 2011
The Eyes Have It, abstract art by Amy Crook, $59
This little piece is practically a sketch with its rough lines and simple structure. I made the salt pools using paint instead of ink, and the salt-infused paint grew brittle and flaked away at the centers, as you can see. Then I added halos of color to give it a feeling like the eyes on a peacock’s tail, first scribbling with the watercolor crayons and then going in with the water brush to soften the lines and blend the colors.
The scribbly lines make for a fun computer wallpaper or iPhone wallpaper, too, so I made up free ones for you. Okay, mostly for me, but a little bit for you.
The resulting little drawing is unframed, but the stiff card would sit easily on a bookshelf or little cubby, or I could even include one of my tiny wooden easels for display if you’d like.
The Eyes Have It, 5.5″x4.25″ mixed media on paper, $59 with free shipping.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: for sale, salt, watercolor, watercolor crayons
Hibiscus Green
Friday, July 29th, 2011
Hibiscus Green, abstract art by Amy Crook
I bought this celadon green Crane & Co. cardstock at a stationery store a few years back, and I was curious to see where on the spectrum of blue to pink it would fall with the hibiscus tea. After swirling on an abstract pattern, the tea turned slightly purple, and in the very thin spots where it went bluer it faded into the green paper. I liked the pattern it made so much I called it done and scanned it.
I enjoyed the soothing abstract colors of this piece so much I made a computer wallpaper and iPhone wallpaper out of it. I’m really enjoying the wallpapers I make for myself, switching out every few days to something new, especially on my iPhone. Clearly, I’m easily amused.
Hibiscus Green, 6.375″x4.25″ hibiscus tea on paper.
It’s just a little larger than a standard 4″x6″ card, which means I haven’t found a frame for it, so the price is for the unframed work.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: crane and co, for sale, green, hibiscus, tea
3 Comments »
7 Seconds
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
7 Seconds, abstract art by Amy Crook, $399
I can’t really explain the title of this painting, other than to say it suggested itself to me when I was contemplating what to name the file when I was scanning it. There are seven pools of salt, rather more distorted from perfect rounds than usual because the paper was already slightly warped by the wash of hibiscus tea before I made them.
This is one of my first pieces combining watercolor with tea, though I’ve since worked on several more. I really like the way the rich turquoise paint works with the softer green of the salt, and the muted blue-violet of the tea.
7 Seconds, 7″x5″ mixed media on paper, $399, framed, with free shipping.
Here you can see the initial wash drying — the lightest spots turned to blue almost immediately, leaving the original pink lingering in the pools of tea, though as you can see they, too, changed as they dried.
7 Seconds, work in progress, by Amy Crook
This photo gives away one of my cheater secrets — I use the knickknacks off my shelves to flatten out the pages when they get too warped. Though it’s far from perfect, that’s part of the point, the compromise between order and entropy, deliberation and natural randomness.
7 Seconds, work in progress by Amy Crook
It was quite warm the day the salt water was drying, which created unusually delicate salt formations.
7 Seconds, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Some of those formations were washed away by the paint, turning instead into small crystals haloing the original salt pools.
7 Seconds, detail 2, by Amy Crook
This is definitely one of those paintings that looks much better once it’s framed. The black really makes the colors look richer and deeper, and helps showcase the harmony of the piece.
7 Seconds, framed art by Amy Crook, $399
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, for sale, green, hibiscus, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
Hibiscus Pink
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Hibiscus Pink by Amy Crook, $323
If a paper doesn’t have the right pH to change the hibiscus tea to blue, it dries a rich, saturated pink with just a hint of violet undertones. The color layers on much more solidly than the blue, soaking into the paper to make it look almost dyed.
This is also the paper that makes gorgeous little flower-like shapes with the salt, which turned out very pale with the assortment of ink colors I chose for the piece. There’s 21 of them, in 3 very similar shades.
It’s a bit of a difficult piece for me to judge because I’m not a fan of pink, but I do think it’s a successful one. The rich color of the tea really permeates the paper, while the inks colored the salt very delicately, giving a good contrast between them.
Hibiscus Pink, 5″x7″mixed media on watercolor paper, $323, framed, with free shipping.
This detail shot shows the subtle raised texture of the salt crystals on the paper, and the sparkle at the center of each salt “flower”.”
Hibiscus Pink, detail, by Amy Crook
When I was making the piece, I tried to make a sort of gradient, distributing the orange, red and pink circles. I always love the way the water droplets pick up the color and shine on the paper, a temporary moment of beauty in the process.
Hibiscus Pink, work in progress, by Amy Crook
The paper on this piece is a little big for a standard 5″x7″ frame, so I might change it out for a matted one if it sells, but here you can get an idea of how it looks framed.
Hibiscus Pink, framed, by Amy Crook, $323
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: for sale, hibiscus, pen and ink, salt, tea
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