Behind The Tropical Oasis Art

My newest art, Tropical Oasis, started because my daughter had decided to create art for her new home. She had mixed up some colours to make this tropical green colour that reminded me of the waters in a tropical location. She had created too much of this particular colour and asked me if I could use it. Of course, I could and not only did I use her remaining paint but I created some more, resulting in two dreamy abstracts on paper. I couldn’t wait to tear these up to create on my brand new blank 24 x 24 inch wood panel staring at me.

With each tear of these two pieces, I was thinking of tropical waters and the warmth compared to the Pacific Ocean. There is something about stepping into tropical waters. Mixing white watercolour paper with the torn abstracts on paper is a way to create more texture as the watercolour paper is thicker and, depending on the side of the paper I used one has a visible texture to it while the other is smooth.

The following images are the final abstract paintings I created before I tore them up.

This next photo is just after I started and I noticed my brush matched my palette.

The one thing I don’t talk about too often is just how much I love creating textures for the corners of my art. Oh, how I love it!! Building those corners is my favourite and fills me with such joy! I start each piece I create on a corner and once I start, I lose myself in the process.

Below is a close-up view of the bottom corner before I finished this piece by painting all the edges black and wiring it up!

To see the listing for this artwork, it can be found here: https://www.kathleentennant.com/original-mixed-media-collage-artwork-kathleen-tennant/p/tropical-oasis-original-mixed-media-collage-abstract-painting

Behind The Torn Edges

This is a space where I go behind the torn edges, but some may wonder what the “torn edges” represent.

For me, the torn edges represent life.

The frayed edges reflect the delicate fragility of life itself. Their unevenness mirrors our paths, which are rarely smooth and often unpredictable.

For me, tearing paper is not about destruction but more about creation. We can create beauty from broken things.

As much as I find joy in creating my abstract works on paper I find great joy in tearing them up to create larger, more playful, and colourful works to live on the walls in people's homes.