Black Aztec Corn 1
Oil pastel and gesso on steel siding
16 3/8" x 18 3/8" x 2 1/4"
Image size 9 5/8' x 7 3/4'
I obtained a few seeds of blue corn from a vendor at the Mt. Vernon winter market a few years ago. I sprouted them immediately, but they didn't make it into a finished painting until now. It was wonderful to have corn seeds of a different color as opposed to the typical yellow.
The frame is made from weathered pallet wood picked up by my husband sometime when he was out and about. I love the soft color and texture of the evenly weathered wood.
I left the two bottom, unfinished corners slightly exposed with this frame. I liked the raw look of them and the fact that you can see the little marks from when I cleared extra pastel from the ends of my blending stumps. When looking at other artists work's I find that I like to see the little places where you can see their brush strokes, pencil notes and other things that weren't necessarily meant to be seen. I like the intimacy of these features. When I look at someone else's work I usually view it from several distances, finally ending up about a nose length from the canvas or substrate - as close as I can get without getting in trouble.
