The opposite of painting

Starting with Imperfect Things, I've been working on a new series within Post-Consumerism. I've been using paint skins, which are dried pieces of paint, to create multicolor assemblages. Instead of applying wet paint with a brush, palette knife, or other instrument to a surface, I am using paint that has already dried. There is no mark-making involved. What I like about this process is the crazy textures you get.

If you look closely, you'll notice that many of the colors in these new pieces look familiar. In Art Supplies, there are paint skins from my palettes when I was working on Ruby Horizon, Eternal Spring, Shanda's Sunrise, and Cerulean Rhapsody.

Art Store has paint skins from Adaptive Reuse 2 and Verdant. It gets its title from the text on the fragment of paint that came off of a paintbrush from The Art Store (which is now Blick).

Why use paint skins and broken art supplies? Because I'm trying to create work in a sustainable, zero-waste fashion. As I mentioned in a previous post, when I wash my brushes, I do not pour any of the waste water down the sink. Instead, I wash them in buckets and let the water inside them evaporate, leaving behind a thin film of dried paint.

Using clear acrylic media, (like gloss medium or gel medium) I create a thicker film which I can use to make acrylic sheets. And then I use the sheets to create new paintings.

Also, there's the economic factor. What better way to save money than to use items that I already have?

All these new paintings are for sale in my Etsy shop. They are $200 each. If you happen upon this post after it's been sold, don't despair. I can make a similar custom painting for you. Click here to learn more about my commissioned art process.