Sunday, September 6, 2009

Tribute to Jackson Pollock

Getting some more art journals done, I was able to incorporate the same subject into two different books.
(remember to click on images to see them larger)
The first book is Karen's and it is on Freedom.
I chose to do Jackson Pollock, because his outlook on art is that of expression, not necessarily completion.
He created his works out of feeling, not a predetermined idea of what it would end up like.
To me I feel that is 'Freedom in art'. I created these pages without any idea of what they would look like when they were finished, and it was an amazing experience.

The second journal belonging to Abby was titled 'American Idol', and we were to incorporate someone we look up to into the pages, so I was able to stay with the Jackson Pollock theme.
Even though he grew up in New York, he was born here in my home town of Cody, WY.

Both journal entries were done with acrylic paint. Some thinned with water, and painted on with a straw, a stick, and a paintbrush. Something that Jackson often did was use unusual items as 'brushes'.

The fist pages for Karen were done with pastel colors on a black background. (directly in the book) Then the paint was let to dry for 2 days. (it's thick in places) Then I printed actual works from Jackson Pollock onto Canvas paper, and then heat set and sealed them so they would not smear, then adhered them around the quote from him.
The quote reads:
'I like to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. There is no accident just as there is no beginning and no end...The painting has a life of it's own.'
Jackson Pollock, New York, 1951.
The second pages for Abby were done with earth tones, on a metallic brown linen texture cardstock. Let to dry, and then I added a transparency where I put Jackson's photo, name and life dates on as an overlay to my painting. On the right side, I added a print of his painting 'The Key' done on canvas paper and sealed, matted with the same metallic brown cardstock.
I was really happy with the way they turned out, and how different they look, when still using some of the basic drip technique.

3 comments:

Jackie Wood said...

Letha,

I just discovered your blog. I love your Jackson Pollock pages, especially how you created with freedom and let things happen. They turned out great. I too started scrapping in 1994 and have now turned to mixed media, so cool to find connections.

Thanks so much for sharing these great pages!
Jackie

Wendy said...

Hello :) Came across your blog and I love your Jackson Pollack pages! Also - REALLY like your explanation of his outlook on art and how that reminds you of "freedom in art." I feel the same way - though I am definitely haven't been able to catch that feeling myself...yet!

:)

Wendy

stampgram said...

They look great. I love the "freedom" in them and I didn't know Jackson was born here. COOL