The Baggage of the Past

When you have been painting a certain way for several years, it is hard to shed old habits.  Initially, I was thinking of stencils as shapes.  I created stencils of bits and pieces that I hoped I could use as part of an artwork.

I picked flowers as the subject matter because I don't really paint florals - I don't have any fixed idea of what this subject matter should look like.  And it is close enough to my vegetation work to enjoy it sufficiently.

I took an old demo canvas and put a layer of Titanium White over it to start fresh, then used different kinds of gel applied through the stencils of various kinds of flower stencils with a palette knife.  Here are some of the stencils of flowers and foliage:

Trying to think about composition, I built up quite a bit of texture on the canvas. I was still using the stencils here and there as shapes. Then I applied some glazes over it so that I could see the shapes better. I started to apply some veils and opaque paint, some of it applied through a stencil until I got here and got stuck:

I lost interest in this one because I really wasn’t sure how to move forward with it.  I wasn’t really satisfied using stencils as just components and it didn't feel new and exciting. And in the meantime, an accidental discovery sent me in a completely different direction that did feel exciting!