This week, in between stacking wood, hauling brush, clearing studio patio land…in between bouts of sweaty mountain womanliness, I MADE ART!!!
‘sperimentin’ kind o’art.
Because I wasn’t allowed to lose myself in the studio. Wasn’t allowed to break out the paints and disappear into the zone where five minutes becomes five hours. Or ten hours. Not with Open Studios Tour coming up in three weeks and all sorts of loose ends to tie up.
But in between nipping down little trees with my bare teeth and wiping sweat from my brow, I dashed into the studio and had my way with Nation Geographic magazines and Citrasolve.
I’d heard you could get some interesting results. Internet arty rumors. They made it sound so easy.
Umm, no…it wasn’t.
Because there’s a lot of conflicting info out there. Like, the magazines must be pre- 1970s.
Well, this is what that looked like. The Citrasolve did nothing to dissolve the ink but my impatience did much to dissolve the paper.
I did some more research. One article said you had to use the non-spray version of Citrasolve. Well, maybe that was my problem. So I went out and bought a bottle of the concentrate. I brushed it on a page from a later National Geographic, maybe mid 80s. This time I tried some direct manipulation. Ugly but progress.
So I kept playing. Moved up to a 2010 edition. Brushed Citrasolve on lots of pages, squeezed them shut and stuck the magazine under a stack of magazines. Then I walked away.
A few hours later I came back and peeled them apart.
Oh oh oh LOVE!!!
Here’s some of what I ended up with.
Look at all this yummy goodness!!! Can you stand it??? Handsprings! Backflips!
There is soooooo much potential here. For paintings. For backgrounds. For encaustics. For collage. For digital whatevers. But mostly for inspiration!
Now it’s time to scan them into the computer (these are just snapshots). I’ll let the ideas percolate and figure what to do with them later. I’m already feeling the AHA! moments bubbling up.
So give it a try. I have to say though, it’s a crapshoot. You don’t know what you’re going to get or if you’re going to get anything at all. Because not everything I tried worked, even when using the same technique that worked for these. And to recap that technique you need: a fairly recent National Geographic magazine, Citrasolve cleaner, rubber gloves and good ventilation. Brush the Citrasolve on random pages, close the magazine, squeeze it, rub it, bury it under something heavy and walk away for a few hours.
That’s it. Have fun with it and if you give it a try let us know how it turns out!
wow! where on earth do you buy citrasolve cleaner? what´s in it?
great stuff Susie!!
I don’t know what the Norwegian version would be, Margie. Google it. I buy it at SPD. It’s with the natural cleaning supplies.
Click on Sue’s link down below. She wrote about it too (unbeknownst to moi) and talks a bit about what’s in it and the New Zealand version.
Have fun!
xo
HAPPY HAPPY DANCE! Well done. No, it’s not easy. Not at all. No no no no. It stinks. It’s messy, it’s horrid.
But when it works …. oh my goodness – such goodness! You done well, Mrs LP! A new level of awesome goodness!
sue:)
Thanks, Sue! Coming from someone whose been there, that means a lot! Of course I didn’t KNOW you’d been there because I need to subscribe to your blog. : )
This turned out beautifully Susan. I don’t know where but I saw something online just the other day on this technique. Very lovely.
Ha, you might’ve seen it on Sue Cottle’s blog, Suzanne. The link is below.
And thanks for the compliment!
Citrasolve is basically alcohol. I wrote about it here, if you want to have a look: http://tuatarasnest.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/citra-solv-national-geographic.html
Thanks for the link, Sue. Everyone, check this out!
I’m doing (virtual) cartwheels over here. They look awesome! Anxious to see what you do with the from her.
So am I, Teresa. I’m leaning towards encaustic right now. We’ll see.
Hi Susan!
Great idea and wonderful work!!! So much fun!!!
Like opening a birthday present, Amy, wondering what’s going to be in that box. : )
Susan, Sweet! I haven’t tried the Nat’l Geographic process but I’ve used Citrasolve to transfer (mostly black and white) Xerox copies of photos onto fabric. It’s really cool. Got the directions from Lyric Kinard’s website. Did it with a small group of quilters. When I threw away the masking tape & paper towels, it was the best (orange-y smell) my garbage can has ever smelled, for weeks! My friends thought it was funny that I kept calling it Citrucel by mistake (like Metamucil or something). 🙂
I tried doing the black and white transfers with no luck, Janet. Could be because I was using the spray. I don’t know. I tried copies from a number of different copiers thinking that might be it. Maybe I’ll try again with the concentrated stuff next time.
Anything to make the garbage smell better!
Wow, very cool. Love those designs that just evolved.
Gotta ask- didn’t the pages stick together? I will have to put this on this list of fun stuff to experiment on. Now let’s see when I can squeeze that into the schedule, haha!
The pages didn’t stick together permanently, Sue, but they did have to be peeled apart. Not easy to do wearing rubber gloves. I didn’t leave anything longer than overnight and most pages were sooner than that.
Time-wise it’s not bad. I squeezed it in between all that yard work. A few minutes to set up and running back in every while or so to check the progress. Some pages didn’t change at all, I really don’t have any idea why.
Very cool! I love seeing new techniques. I’m not familiar with citrasolve so I’ll have to do some checking on that.
I found it in our local grocery, MIchele. They had it in the soap aisle with the natural products. Or you can get it on Amazon. It’s a concentrate and the amount used creates quite the stink. And it’s messy. Just a heads up.
Oh. My. Giddy. Aunt. I looooooove what you’ve created. Amazing for so many art inspired things. You made me laugh about cutting down trees with your teeth. Hee hee. 🙂
Ha ha…and I love your Giddy Aunt, Emma. Think that’s my new favorite expression 🙂
Looks like so much fun, Susan. Wish I could find Citrasolv here in Ukraine. Great effects.
Maybe some Ukrainian version of Citrasolv, Coleen? Try some art experimenting the next time you’re cleaning house 🙂
Definitely going to try this! Added to grocery list already! 🙂
Be sure to share the results, Pat. : )
Wow! such amazing textures! I’ve tried to find citrasolve (originally to do transfers) here in France but without success. But I have another natural solvent that might work, I have to try!
xoxo from a fellow flyer!
Hi there fellow flyer Lalyblue! So nice of you to drop on by : ) Sorry you can’t find Citrasolv in France but I’m sure there’s something there that will work. Be sure to let us know. Couple of folks here from that side of the Atlantic would be happy with that information. xoxo