Forest Fire in a Treasury

Thank to Kae for creating a beautiful treasury on Etsy using art from the VAST street team. She included my Forest Fire painting.

Click here to see the treasury.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=11683&show_panel=true

Click here to see Kae's art blog.

http://kae1crafts.blogspot.com/

Forest Fire!

The second piece of art in my Sycamore Art series is titled "Forest Fire!" (If you missed the first painting, click here Sycamore Art ) That link will also show the sycamore trees.


I started with an old piece of plywood that I had used in making some stained-glass pieces. I chose this piece of wood partly for the great texture - which shows beautifully through the layers of paint - but also because I wanted my Sycamore Art series to be environmentally friendly by not only using the bark, but by recycling an old piece of wood and making something beautiful out of it.
I gessoed the board - I have no idea if that's how you spell that - and then painted it brown before painting layers of reds and oranges with a touch of yellow here and there.

I then picked out some pieces of sycamore bark that looked either like flames or like they had been burned into interesting shapes and mounted them on the painting. I didn't do anything to the bark except mount it and protect it with a coat of varnish. These are the shapes I found them in.

It was very difficult to photograph this work because it has such a shiny finish. No matter what angle or amount of light I used I would get a really bad glare either at the top or across the middle. A side angle seemed to show the color well without getting a glare.

I took a couple of pictures outside hoping the bright light - yet in the shade - would allow me to photograph it without the glare. I also took a picture of it under the tree that the bark came from.
You can see this new painting in my Etsy shop
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15545663

This painting will definitely be a topic of conversation no matter where you hang it.

Sycamore Art

Bear Hollow is filled with trees: tulip poplar, redbuds, oaks, maples, elms, black walnuts... and giant beautiful sycamores. In late July through August the sycamore trees shed their bark. It peels off in beautiful shapes.

I've always wanted to do something - art wise - with these beautiful pieces of bark.

I have a few old planks of barn wood out next to my pole barn. I decided that the rustic wood would make a great backdrop for the sycamore bark. I had thought of mounting the bark on canvas, but it is very strong and tries to curl back up as it dries. I don't think it would stay on the canvas, or would curl and pucker the canvas.

So I took a plank, laid the piece of bark on it that I wanted to use (to know how long to cut the board) and took out the trusty circular saw. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I used water color for my paint. I wanted it to just color the wood - not really cover it. I ended up needing to use a lot and I didn't use much water on later layers because when it was watery it just soaked into the wood and didn't leave much color behind.

Here's my first piece using a piece of sycamore bark. I called it Sycamore Lightning. You can see it in my Etsy shop here - http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15203409

Stress cracks from the bark trying to curl back up the way it was on a branch and the grain of the barn wood give a rustic feel while the contemporary abstract background lends a sophistication that will compliment any decor.

The piece is approximately 32 1/4" x 9 1/2". (It curves a little making the top a little smaller. It is old barn wood after all.) The edges are painted black to give a framed look. It is finished with a clear coat of varnish to protect the paint and the wood.