"Star Attraction" — A Unique Piece

Have you ever started a piece, never finished it, and when you looked at it again didn't want to finish it? Well, that's how Star Attraction began. Looking at all my available canvases to paint on, I came across an older piece which had never been completed. Deciding that this canvas would be the perfect size for the rooster that I wanted to paint, I gessoed over it with kind of a pink color and went to town! Well, my first issue, which I didn't think would be an issue, occurred when I figured out that the collage of acrylic skins showed through my painting and detracted from my rooster! What a bummer! I wondered if I could pull the painting together and fight the weird directions of the collage pieces. (You can see the under collage above the rooster's comb; it's that star shape radiating out.) There was more collage that didn't fit in the feathers. Not wanting to abandon the piece and liking my brushwork, I pulled out my collection of acrylic skins and figured, why not??? So this piece would have more than just the brushwork! Lighten up already!!!!! I put a lot of skin pieces in the red comb of the rooster, in the breast feathers, the tail feathers and sprinkled some through the background. I thought the stars collaged in the upper right hand corner added a little whimsy! All the texture really adds interest to this piece and experimenting a bit provided creative challenge.

"Star Attraction" • 10" x 8" • $100.00

Text and photos ©Melissa Gannon 2014