It's a Quirky Dutch Summer

I was honored to be asked by Marit, the founder of Featuring, an amazing new print magazine, to participate in her Quirky Dutch Summer. Of course, I jumped at the chance!



As you know, this summer, I've been experimenting with a variety of interesting materials including encaustic, watercolors and oil-based paint sticks. However, my new favorite material is joint compound. Judy Wise and Stephanie Lee's Plaster Studio  inspired me to try this amazingly versatile product and I'm hooked. Joint compound is very inexpensive, readily available in a home improvement store and accepts paints beautifully. (Home builders use it to repair dry wall.) When wet, you can add texture by drawing into it or by stamping into it with food container lids. When dry, you can sand it, scratch into it and paint it. It can be applied with a trowel, palette knife, or a stencil. Because of its thickness, it can even be molded! What's not to love?

I created this funky piece for Zoey's room. She wanted a whimsical abstract using the color scheme on her comforter. She has such a fun style.


Outside the frame, the piece looks like this...

A few detail shots.

And framed...

I hope that this project jump starts your own creativity!

I've created a very quick video for you, but here's the jist of what I'm doing.

Materials:
Joint Compound
Trowel
Background paper
Acrylic paints (I used DecoArt Americana brand.)
Baby wipes
Acrylic glazing medium (optional)
Stylus
Acrylic spray sealer
Sharpie (black)

Technique:
1. Apply joint compound to the background paper using a trowel. If you'd like to smooth it out, remove excess joint compound from the trowel and lightly wet the trowel. Allow to dry about 24 hours.
2. Decide on a focal point. Apply acrylic paint circles randomly. The circles should be smaller near the focal point and get larger as you leave the focal area. Dry completely.
3. Using a stylus, scratch into the surface. This is hard. Work randomly.
4. Add color to the grooves either by adding paint and wiping away excess OR by using a black Sharpie marker.
5. Seal the piece with a glossy sealer.

I created this leopard piece using the same technique of scratching into joint compound for Cam's new room. (He's an animal lover.)

Thank you, Marit for inviting me to participate in your Quirky Dutch summer!


xoxo
Bethany