Thursday, January 3, 2008

Black Holes Banished

I feel like I'm finally seeing this project start to look the way I envisioned it. Again, I'm not sure how much the change is apparent in the photo, but in person it's significant (to me anyway). I "washed" parts of the piece with Halo Violet Gold. I took a small paintbrush and carefully went along the sides of the long pieces of lace and around each flower, using the flow of the water to help me fill in the dark, non-iridescent places that were left. In this case, I had too much "depth" to the piece! Now the whole piece appears "brighter" and doesn't act like it has been up all night with a vomiting child (black circles around "eyes" AKA flowers). It was a lot of detail work, but it was worth it.
Here is a closer view. I also gave this piece a heavy dousing of glitter spray last night. I heart glitter spray, as the Pioneer Woman would say. After this flurry of work, where I'm starting to get in the zone of, "I'm beginning to be happy with this piece," I think I should let it rest for a few days. This method works well when writing an essay or research paper (English major here), so I think I will apply it here, put the piece away, and then come to it again in a little while with a fresh eye to see what finishing touches it needs. Also, I now need to give more thought to how I will finish it for hanging. I've had a few ideas but I haven't really "settled" on anything.

The Battenburg piece? Well, I'm definitely NOT in the zone on that one. I think I'll put it away for a few days too, for a different reason--for this one I shall hope for fresh inspiration. ; )

5 comments:

Needleroozer said...

Wow! This is looking great! I too, notice a difference with the addition of the purple-gold. I love that color. The flowers and lace still "pop", but they don't look like black eyes. Very nice. I would be tempted to call this one done at this stage.
Let's talk about how to "finish" or get this ready for hanging- what are your ideas so far?
LB

Cassandra said...

As usual, you are very kind. I almost haven't quite dared to consider it done. I think I should let it rest for a couple of days before I decide. *gingerly* But it might be done.

My ideas so far revolve around wooden dowels. At one point, I was going to roll up the top and bottom slightly on dowels and staple on the back. But, I think the composition would be disturbed, and this project has ended up somewhat stiff.

I'm considering either trying to slit the dowels (have to consult woodworking DH to see if this is possible) and glue the top and bottom into the dowel slightly, or making fabric pockets on the top and bottom on the back and sliding the dowels through. In both cases I will probably paint the dowels a coordinating color like I did the frame.

Then, I need to find a string/cord of some kind to tile from the dowel to the nail I hang the piece on. My husband is suggesting something baroque with tassels and such, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. I need to shop for cord. I have in mind a cord that I used for a curtain in the front room that is a rich burgundy/royal purple color, but it might be too thick a cord for such a small project. That is if Bed, Bath, and Beyond still carries them!

So those are my ideas so far. Do you have any suggestions? I would welcome them.

Cassandra said...

Oh, one other thing. The back is quite mottled from different layers, stuff that was on the trash bag where it dries, etc. I plan to paint it a uniform color.

Cassandra said...

One MORE thing. This is the last one--I promise. I like Halo Violet Gold too. It was my inspiration color for the whole piece. I used it a LOT here and it performed several functions for me--base, accent, modifier of other accents for more unified look, tool to fix goofs, etc. If I had to choose between Halo Violet Gold and glitter spray I would have a tough time. And Halo Violet Gold is perfect for my house, as is the Burgundy.

Needleroozer said...

Would you be available for me to call you around 1:30 or so? I have a bunch of ideas for this, some I have done, others I have been dreaming up for future projects.
LB