Making Lemonade with Pastels...Painting Lurie Gardens

'Garden Respite'           10x10         pastel       ©Karen Margulis
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 Sometimes you just have a mess on your hands. A failed painting or perhaps a study destined for the trash. And that is exactly where these things go....in the trash.  But I have a thrifty side especially when it comes to paper.  I don't like to throw away good paper even if it is covered in a mess!

I know I have written about rescuing a failed painting before but I believe it bears repeating.  If you have a lemon on your hands.....

Make Lemonade!

Late me share my latest attempt at saving a piece of paper.

Here I have a nice piece of Uart sanded paper. I had used it for my You Tube video on Mark Making. 

I didn't need the demo paper anymore and was about to trash it when I stopped.  I love this paper and I know it takes abuse so why not do something creative with it.

Out came the rubbing alcohol and my stiff well worn bristle brush.  I cut the paper into a square and washed in the pastel marks with the alcohol.  See the results below.

Look at all those yummy drips!  I even like this as an abstract. In fact I almost left it alone. Hmmmm now that gives me an idea! Let me write that down before I forget.
But instead I looked at it to see what it might become. I saw it as the perfect backdrop for some wildflowers.  I took out my wildflower photos and settled on one of Purple Coneflowers from my favorite garden...Lurie Gardens at the Art Institute of Chicago. I turned the paper upside down and took out my pastels.

I worked hard at not covering up all the green and approached it incrementally as suggested by Richard McKinley. See Richard's timely post on underpaintings here.

Next time you have a mess....make lemonade!

close up detail