Sticking in France for this one... in Arles, right across the street from Cafe la Nuit, there was the gorgeous building that, after researching, I learned was a hotel. I absolutely loved the aesthetic of the building as it was old and slightly decrepit. There were tons of flowers billowing out of the windows and vines creeping up the brick. I spent most of the time sitting at the cafe just staring at it and taking in the unique architecture that you don't see in America.
I decided to attempt to capture the calm, peaceful vibe that the building out off in a piece. I used duller colors than I usually gravitate towards to try and portray this. I really struggled with this piece because I am used to doing scenes, not close up photos. I also knew that I wanted to get the texture right which was a challenge at first. I started just building up layer upon layer of papers, but I still couldn't get the texture that I wanted and knew the piece needed. I decided to put on some paint to make the lines of the paper slightly less harsh and I ended up really liking the quality of it. I got a palette knife and began scraping on paint which gave it a similar texture to the brick.
Something that I had not done a lot of previously in my concentration pieces was worked with magazine pieces. I thought that including some ripped up magazine pieces would add a nice touch to this piece so I spent a lot of time sifting through old magazines and finding unique images. Placement was also a challenge because certain items tended to stand out too much.
At the end, I think it all came together really well although there were a few hiccups along the way. That's the beauty of mixed media, though, because you can never truly mess up, even if there are complications along the way. I like the colors I chose and the story that they tell as it is so different than anything I have ever done before.