Second Floor Challenge #8: 3 Or More Stamps

So...last week I completely brain farted and forgot that Tuesday was the eighth Second Floor challenge and left poor Nat hanging.  I'm going to blame it on all the travel.  Yeah, it wasn't me.  It was the fact that I was sooooo busy.  (Okay, it was me.)

But, my sweet friend Nat gave me a week to get it together and now I'm ready to take it to the second floor!

The challenge this time around is to use 3 different stamps.  Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you.  The prompt is simply meant to get you started.  The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you.

Click here to see what Nat did.

As for me, I decided to (per the challenge) push myself.  I use stamps all the time. What could I do that would be really different?

Hmmmm....

I decided to do something that I've never done before.  I grabbed a big canvas (30 x 30) and decided to see if I could incorporate stamping into a large scale piece of art.  Here's what I came up with:

I call it "Going Home."

Here are some close-ups:

And, I even made a video of me painting it.  It's not a great video (it was pretty dark in the apartment), but you might find it interesting.  I've speeded it up, so it's just about 3 minutes long.

Here's what I'm taking away from this challenge:

• This was one of the biggest "Second Floor" leaps I've ever made.  I have a real tough time incorporating stamping into non-scrapbooking or art journaling artwork, let alone large scale painting (which is a challenge in of itself).  For someone else, this leap might be a tiny step, but for me it was an enormous jump.  Each of us has our own set of challenges.
• It took me almost as long to set up to paint as it did to do the painting!  And that is one of the reasons that I don't often paint.  And when I do, it tends to be in big batches of paintings.  I can't see any way to change this fact (it's simply a space issue in this apartment) but I'm aware that it can stop me from doing what I want to.  Le sigh.
• At the very last minute I turned the painting upside down and it was right.  When I took the painting outside to photograph it, I looked at it and decided that up should be down.  I feel confident that I made the right decision, and it's one of the great things about abstract paintings: they can surprise you.
• I used foam stamps.  I purposely chose to use a bunch of foam stamps that I had made because I knew I was going to use paint.  Paint can really screw up your stamps and I knew I wouldn't be washing them right away. I was unworried about the foam stamps because I can always make more!  (PS: If you're looking for info on making your own foam stamps, my DVD has a lot of great ideas!)
• I started by brayering the paint onto the stamps, but ended up just smooshing the stamp into paint instead.  As with so many of my creative endeavors, I begin with the best of intentions and then slowly devolve into my slobby self.  I was trying to keep things neat and clean, but it just was easier to smoosh the stamp into the paint.  The reason not to smoosh is because you get paint in every nook and cranny, whereas a brayer only applies paint to the raised portion of the stamp.  Ah well.  I revert to form every time.
• I'm not 100% sure how I feel about the painting.  I like it.  I think.  It's a little out of my comfort zone and I may need a day or two to process.
• I like the texture that the stamps add.  Those big pattern stamps do the same thing that stencils do -- they add a bit of pattern and visual texture to the painting.  Because you have to clean stamps when you use them with paint (there's that lazy thing again) I tend to shy away from using them when painting.  But I need to get over myself and do it more often!

Here's the linky list for this Second Floor Challenge:

Thanks for stopping by!