Page 59 - The Decorative Painter Spring 2018

Yellow Flower
studySUE PEDERSEN DECORATIVEPAINTERS.ORG The Decorative Painter • SPRING 2018 57
I attended Jo Sonja Jansen’s design class in February 2017 and had the most wonderful experience plus an opportunity for my own personal ar- tistic growth. We recently moved from California to Nevada and I had a cupboard for my bathroom that I wanted to refinish somehow. My hus- band cut a wooden panel 14 1⁄2" x 11 1⁄2" (36.83 x 29.21 cm) to go in the door to replace the mirror and I took that to class with me. I wanted to learn the wax resist technique and was hoping either Jo Sonja or someone at the class would share the technique. I was fortunate that several other people had also been asking and so a demonstration took place during the lunch hour. I used my board that was already a nice natural wood color that was slightly dark with age (it actually came out of the scrap pile). I didn't really plan to design anything on the surface, but when the time for instruction came and we were discussing composition, it occurred to me that instead of just working in my sketch book, I had a surface waiting. I went right to my board and starting sketching, then proceeded on to color. I realized that the flowers I had sketched onto my board were all flowers that could be yellow, therefore a color scheme was born. The whole process was one of discovery, as I just let the project tell me what was needed.
This study can be done on any surface of choice and the wax resist technique is optional.
ACRYLIC