I made my first (and probably my last) piece since 2002 that does not incorporate a construction fence pattern as the main element of the design.
A number of months ago, my son gifted me two gridded pieces of cardboard that were cast offs from someone else’s board game. He knew not to let them go to waste, and that he could make his momma happy by giving them to her, and he did. I raised him right!
They’ve been sitting in my home studio since I acquired them, and I wasn’t sure how I wanted to use them. I had ideas but nothing I really wanted to do.
Now that I’m in the middle of working on my Fractured Fence Repaired series, which references repaired blue and white broken plates that have gold highlighting the lines of repair, I got an idea for a possible new next series, which also involves lines and grids.
Instead of cutting into the pattern of a monoprinted construction fence and “repairing” it back together, I’m thinking I might work in a similar manner, but reference street maps instead. I’m in the beginning stages of thinking about it, but I thought I’d take a first try when working on my March 12 x 12 x 12, which is my time to play.
I wanted to try drawing and painting a perfect (ish) grid, instead of monoprinting a less than perfect construction fence grid, and that’s where the game cardboard came in.
I do like this piece, but I do miss the surprises and textures I get from monoprinting. I think this was a good exercise, but the next time I use the cardboard grids, I’ll monoprint them instead. I miss the imperfections I usually have to work with. The only imperfections here are a few not too straight painted lines, and some black fuzz from my sweater that shows throught the fabric because it accidently got fused between the board and the fabric. Oh well.
The 12 x 12 x 12 monthly series are mixed media on 12" x 12" x 1" board. Read past posts about it here on my blog, or see all of the completed work on my website.
