Acrylic on compressed paper coasters

Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

I’m back to coaster making. Funny enough, my ventures into these things have proven somewhat popular. I’m now even being commissioned for them- this set being one of those commissions. Here are the specifics I was given to guide me:

1. The house these will be inhabiting has lots of deep purples, mauves, and tans (so no fluorescent/super bright colors please).

2. Also, the person would probably appreciate something more abstract or non-representational.

Because I love the idea of having one larger completed work of art that can be separated into smaller images, I began by taping the six pressed paper coasters together. Blending purples and reds, I created my base layer. I went back in and thickened up the blends in certain areas and after the paint had dried, I used a small squeeze bottle of acrylic to draw on the white design. The squeeze bottle thing was a first time experiment for me. I learned about it from an artist named Bryan Martin who also has a studio at Poudre Studio Artists & Galleries.  I finished up the piece by adding areas of solid color in order to create a more blocked effect.

I feel pretty good about the final piece and the friend who commissioned them seems pretty pleased with them as well – which always makes me happy. To finish the coasters off I will make prints of the originals, attach them to tiles, coat them with lots of varnish and add cork to the back. Below are a few examples.