Color play: Three to One

Three to One, oil on panel, 8x6   available

Day Three, so the title seemed apropos. Playing with colored paper and fruit out of the fridge. Serendipity is what I look for as I roll the fruit out on the table. I have a collection of colored paper from years ago that I just rediscovered recently hidden away in the basement so look for more of these as I play around this month to loosen up and just experiment with the detritus of my life that surrounds me.

The job I had until 2001, was in a public school.  I was responsible for the bulletin board in the main hall. Do schools even have bulletin boards anymore? I accrued a collection of leftover paper of all kinds and sizes that I was allowed to take with me when I left. I have used this scrap collection over the years for cards, decoupage and still life! What got me thinking about it again was I volunteered before Christmas in a local jewelry/art gallery to help out with extended hours. The shop had these cases inset into the walls, and they were essentially a white box. The jewelry was mostly silver, displayed on these sandblasted glass necklines and hands. So white box, silver and neutral gray displays. It was killing me. Hard to see, and no one I ever saw looked into these boxes. I took it upon myself to dress these boxes up with color! I dragged the paper, cutting board, x-acto and ruler down to the shop and while the owner was away, I got to work making a few examples pop to see what happened. One of the regular jewelry cases had metal work, displayed on limbs of trees, dark pine cones and leather. Black literally on dark brown. Again, UGH. A piece of that lime green paper in this painting got cut into squares, rectangles and triangles and I popped those pieces right out. Now you can see the jewelry from across the shop. Luckily, not only the owner, but that jeweler, liked what I had come up with. I had so much fun doing this little project that I am bringing it to you. Aren't you lucky?