Four O’Clock Dala Art

August 8, 2016

My garden is a never-ending source of inspiration.  The pink, yellow and white Four O’Clocks are three two to three feet high thanks to the amazing mushroom mulch.  The latest Dala Art Challenge for me is to create larger dala art and to take into consideration the possibility that the dala may end up being mattd, framed and hung in the upcoming solo exhibit at the Cancer Center.  

Whenever possible, I recycle both my rag mats and my frames.  The rag mat is a warm white whereas the paper I am working on to create the eight inch dala art is a cool white.  This isn’t a problem as long as I create a border with either painted design or with colored, silk ribbon.  I often like the dala on the stark white background and I become anxious when I place the mat over it and realize that I have to go the next step and continue adding lines, shapes and colors that will extend to the edges of the mat.  I’m out of my comfort zone.  By being pushed to take the chance on “ruining” a dala, I’ve come up with solutions I would never have imagined or tried.  Some, not all, I like even better than the original version on the stark white background.

I should know better than to sign any art when I’m tired.  I signed this one upside-down and had to add a second signature.  The positive aspect of double signatures is that it gives two options for hanging.

I’ve included below, several of the stages I went through to create the Four O’Clock Dala.  I drew the dala with a fountain pen filled with J. Herbin “Caroube de Chypre” ink.  It is a beautiful brown-toned ink that dries quickly and is fairly permanent.  There was very little bleed when I applied watercolor to the drawing.  As the dala developed I defined many of the edges, but not all, using a fountain pen filled with Noodler’s Black.