Maria writes...
I recently came across this tile I posted some years ago. It caught my eye long enough to analyze just what it was that made me look twice.
Maybe it was the energy it exuded. It could have been the busy mix of tangles I chose. There were a few interesting aspects, like the afterthought of the “tuckered” ribbon and the four highlights on the moonpies. The moonpie was clearly taking over the tile, leaving room only for a “second string” section. This tile literally begged me to remedy this dire situation, it being one of my “so-so” compositions.
The section of tripoli with a (not so) dreamy crescent moon was just not “floating my boat.” That is, of course, if I actually liked boats (which I don’t), so I had to come up with something really spectacular, to make me even consider the boat... but I digress.
Maybe, just maybe, the tripoli was just tired (of treading water?) and needed a little “lift.”
Then, I spotted it. A (General’s) white chalk pencil was about to roll off my desk, and I (just like in the movies) caught it in midair! No, really!!!!!
Now that I’ve got this powerful tiny pencil in hand, I can’t just put it down, right? So instead, I covered the tripoli with as much white as was humanly possible. I brought my tile outside (nowhere near a boat), and with a (clean) tortillon, eased the excess chalk away from the tile, blew on it softly, and continued my magical journey.
Onward to my studio, to add the final touches. I used a brown 05 Micron pen to reinforce the border around the tripoli. I added some pretty heavy shading around the edge of the tripoli to add some much-needed contrast. A couple of shadows under the lovely “tuckered” ribbon, and that pesky tripoli magically rose before my very eyes.
And that’s the way it happened.
Jane Roberts on
Love the message in this process that we can always return to our creativity and bring our current perspective to the past.
jessica on
Love reading the stories of your creations. Wouldn’t want you to stop to snap a pic of the before as it would interrupt your flow, and then again, you’ld have to do each step as a before the next. Love the finished work, love imagining it in its less buoyant state of not finished yet!
PamS on
Thanks, Maria, for the inspiration. I will revisit my less pleasing tiles and see what I can make float up!
Leslie Hancock on
Ann Baum, CZT36 on
Lynn Hensley on
Thanks for your beautiful work.
Miriam Israel on
Paulette Kirschensteiner on
Thanks for your beautiful work.
Miriam Israel on
At first glance, I thought this was a bowl that you tangled, with a suspended cut tile on top. Wow, the dimension you gave it! Now, I will have to go back and look through some of my previous tiles, and see if they need an adjustment. Thanks for explaining your process.
Mary Kay Cass, C.Z.T. on
This blogpost proves your powers! This is simply magical. You never cease to amaze me!! Thanks for this.
Katrina Thiebaut on
Wow! I also would love to see the Before and After. What a brilliant way to rejuvenate a tired tile. On my way to dig out my own ‘tired’ tiles .
Kathleen McMurtry on
Didi on
Wow – what a very cool illusion of the floating tripoli! It was a worthy tile to re-visit! I’m buzzing with ideas for my next tile! thanks!
Delsie on