As a teenager I spent a couple of weeks exploring India and fell in love with the persistent beauty and vivid colors of the country. Despite a considerable presence of poverty at that time, the people had a tenacious flair for color and design. While I have not managed a return trip, my own love of color and design and pattern transport me back to this wonderfully exotic country from time to time. This week I took a little trip to India in the form of a mixed media collage and paint on a wood cradled 18 x 24 inch panel.
I began with a collage of napkins, an image of the Taj Mahal, and a print of a previous background, and then added layers of paint and paper and more paint. In my dining room, I have painted the words of John 3:16 in many different languages, including Hindi. So I copied my probably rather inaccurate copy into the piece. I think it is such a beautiful language! To any of you who actually know Hindi, my apologies for any inaccuracies!
The elephant is made of Citra Solv altered pages from a National Geographic magazine. I love using these papers to create elephant hide! So perfect and interesting! I put a blanket on the elephant’s back made from sari scraps.
The sky is created by pasting down strips of National Geographic pages and then treating with Citra Solv and my own hand cut stencil. I added splashes and drips and more paper and paint. I love how all the layers add depth to a piece.
Thanks for joining me on my little trip to India!
Leisanne
Stunning!