Reverse Glass Painting with a Color Burst Background

Hey everybody, I am a collector of old stuff...so, you can't imagine how happy I was when I found reverse glass painting in an antique store the other day.  Reverse glass painting has been around since the middle ages in one form or another. This piece is a vintage piece from the 30's or 40's and based on the subject matter, may have been created by a local artist.

I really loved the image...it's like so many images I photograph while walking on the river near my home.

And, although the "crinkled" aluminum foil background is typical for pieces created during the 30s and 40s, I felt like it needed something more.  I really wanted to see this piece with a magnificent sunset behind it.

I really love that silhouette image, I see it quite often when I'm walking near the river.

 

 

So I decided that it would be great to use Color Burst to create a wonderful, watercolor background that would capture some of the beauty of our sunsets.

First, I removed the tiny nails from the frame that held the foil background in place.

Then carefully removed the backing and the foil back ground.  I discovered that this was a "at home" DIY piece...the mat board on the reverse side was actually a phone book cover.

Here's close up of the foil once the piece had been deconstructed.  There were a couple different kinds of foil, and it looks like they had some color, but the color has faded away over the years.

The next thing I needed to do was to create a Color Burst color palette that would, approximate the colorful sunsets I see outside my front door nearly every day.

 I chose, Cerulean Blue Ultramarine Blue, Lemon Yellow, Gamboge, Orange, and Merlot.  That's a lot of color for an 8x10 background...but I wanted it to be very colorful!

So I created a loose, "washy" background with lots of color.  I didn't really try to catch any detail on this background.  The details are in the painted glass that overlays this background so you can be messy.  

When I reassembled this piece with it's new Color Burst background...I loved it even more. The sunset is so glowy!

If you like this project, make sure to check back in a couple days...I recreated a similar vintage reverse glass painting with a frame from a resale shop, stencils, and Color Burst. 

Til next time, 

 

I'm Growing and Opening a New Studio!

 I had no idea what to expect when I moved back to Indiana about 2 years ago...I knew I'd do something, I just wasn't exactly sure what it would be.  Having left the comfort of a corporate job...it would be a new chapter and a new beginning. 

 

When I moved back, I found the ideal location to live and work.  I live in a historic building in Newburgh, Indiana, on the banks of the Ohio River.  It's perfect...my town has quite a few antique stores, a few artists, a few galleries, great restaurants, friendly people and amazing water views every day of the year! It's really an incredible set up! I have loved every minute of it and not once regretted "ditching" my corporate job and moving back to "small town" America.   

Yet, at the same time, I am outgrowing my present space!  There are times when I need to have help kitting for classes...my current studio is on the 3rd floor, so it's not exactly conducive for moving boxes and boxes of art and craft supplies...and there's not a lot of room for additional people to help me do my business...and, routinely, I get requests to stop by my studio for a visit.  I've had guests from all over the USA, from New Zealand, and this year the Director of the Indiana Board of Tourism even paid a visit to my humble little studio.  

So, when the office space, on the first floor of my building became available...I jumped on it! And, I am so excited about what that's going to mean for me and my business...I'll be able to do a lot of things that I've only dreamed about until now.
 

It's my plan to develop a working studio where I can host gallery nights and pop up exhibits.  There are so many wonderful local artists whose work needs to be seen. I am planning to work with The SW Indiana Council of the Arts to make this happen!
My new space will also allow me to develop a space to create videos and more online content.  I could not be happier about everything my new space will allow me to do! It's not my intention to be a retail store, with regular hours...at all. I'm a hippy artist and keeping a regular schedule ain't my bag these days. Instead...it's my goal to create a maker space that will allow me to expand on the things I'm already doing...and I think it's gonna be pretty dang cool.

It's all really new, and happening really fast...I get the space around the first of November...and I can't wait to get started.     

 Make sure that you're following me on Facebook at Ken Oliver Crafts to see more of how the plans come together!