2020 Topic 22 Icy Abstractions with ESA (by Nikki Acton)

  2020 Topic 22:Icy Christmas

Building and creating can be wonderfully satisfying. I love how Nikki describes the process of layering and adding paint as 'therapy in a bottle'. She has taken simple (but wonderful) supplies and has created beautiful textured pieces that make you want to reach out and run your fingers over them!

~ Keren.

Hi everyone, Nikki here today (Addicted to Art) to share a not very Christmas take on the current theme! I decided to let the paint and stamps do the talking and aimed to create an Icy feel to these abstract panels.

I am sure I have mentioned before my love of Abstract art - think Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly, Gerhard Richter etc. I enjoy trying to bring a little abstraction into my art sometimes and these stamps from Seth Apter seemed a great opportunity.

My first two panels are 5x5 inches, mounted on 6x6inch painted greyboard. I started by adding a little texture with Grunge Paste (using a palette knife) - not too thick here. I selected colours to create an Icy feel: Azure, Glacier Ice, Crispy Blue and Little Black Dress (for contrast).

The colours were built up mostly by adding with a palette knife but sometimes monoprinting using watercolour paper. On the left hand panel (top photo) I also added paint to Grunge Paste and using the edge of the palette knife to create the scratchy lines in the paint.

I stamped the swirly circles on tissue paper and cut out different amounts to fit my panels. I added a little paint to the other side of the tissue paper and once dry adhered to the panels. The horizontal stamping was done directly onto the dry paint. The stamps are both from ESA18 (Seth Apter).

For the final piece I used a canvas board - 5x7inches. Again I started with Grunge Paste adding a little more this time... particularly horizontally where you can see I have stamped into the paste with the same swirly stamp.

I allowed the grunge paste to surface dry and then spritzed the stamp with water before stamping into the paste and repeating. (Make sure you wash your stamp afterwards). Once dry I painted this section with Little Black Dress. When dry, I dry brushed with white gesso to highlight the textures.

There is nothing more satisfying than layers of paint creating texture!

I find when I look at something like this I cannot work out which colour came first. I don't know anymore which I added first. Build the layers slowly, making sure at least some of the dark colour is in the background to add depth. Using a palette knife (or credit card) is a great way to add Fresco paints.....give it a go, it's therapy in a paint bottle!

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

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