This acrylic painting of the center of a poinsettia resides over my mantel this time of year. It was a painting I did purely for my own enjoyment. This was a completely foreign idea for me up to now. I've always been working towards a goal. So for once my goal was to make art for my own enjoyment. Need I say it- purely for decoration? ( Eeeeek !!! ) Each leaf of the poinsettia is the result of many sheer layers of color. While doing them I was tossing about ideas for the background. I was painting on a 30" square panel with a 2" cradle which was looking more and more like a box to me. In fact, it reminded me of a Christmas present. That's what I'll do with the background, wrap it in gold leaf ! Having never done leafing before, on any scale, it sounded just the thing. Read all the instructions, laid out my materials, and began. Now there's a window of opportunity when the glue is just right. It lasts about 45 minutes to an hour. Three quarters of the way through the process, I run out of gold leafing squares. That's when my husband found me going through the phone book like a crazed squirrel. I had found more leaf, but it was in the part of town where you can't ever find parking. It was 5:15 and they closed at 6:00. With a John Wayne retort he said, "I drive." As I raced into the art supply store, my wheel man circled the block. Once home I laid on the final metal leaf sheets. I had abandoned the directions and was rubbing the sheets down with my thumbs while bits of gold floated through the air. I have never had more fun. Just looking at this painting makes me smile remembering that crazy, wonderful afternoon. It is good to enjoy one's art. Have a merry one !
