Changing It Up

There's something about an old photo that makes us wonder about the people or place that someone took the time to preserve for all time.  I love looking at old photos of people and thinking about what special time they was meant to memorize.  I found some old photographs among my aunt's belongings. I did not know their true stories, but they were so endearing that I had to do something special with them.
   My Process:    These backgrounds are unpredictable because I just pour different colored walnut inks by Tsukineko over the canvas in different combinations. After this particular one dried,  I dabbed on some crackle medium here and there. Sorry I do not know exactly which crackle brand I used since I have a variety in the cupboard. Sometimes I just grab a bottle and spash it in certain spots experimenting with it.  I love experimenting in art. It's how new art is created.

After a light coat of white acrylic, a lovely crackle appeared in spots.  Now for the photo...altering process for the photo involved two things: scratching the photo in certain areas and dripping or spraying ink onto the photo.

And some strategic dabbing with paper towel to keep the ink from overpowering the image. Then I ripped the photo around the edges to age it some more.

To age the background  more I rubbed brown stamp pad ink a bit and added a lace stencil effect with white gesso. The lace trim was dyed with more walnut ink. I could not resist adding a rusty heart at the top, because it seemed to go with the story that I was creating.


This is entitled "Stories to Tell"  because one day someone took this photograph to remember their special house and to show others where their story took place.