The Common Denominator

I am often asked whether I use transfers in my art. And my answer is the same.....ummm, no, I don't. Not that I don't want to, but I can never get them to work right. And after investing so much time in a painting, I sure hate to screw it up with a failed transfer. Yeah, I know, there are no failures, just opportunities, but the whole transfer thing frustrates me.

So imagine my surprise when I accidentally transferred something!! Yep, classic MB technique. Trying to do something else and I get a transfer. Good grief.

It started with a Martha Stewart product I bought at Michael's, looks like tissue (my obsession continues) so I had to get some. It is a small tube with a variety of pastel colors in diminutive prints, very cute; intended for a food gift, to line the box (remember, we are talking Martha Stewart here). Anyway, I didn't care what it was intended for, I just liked the look and figured I could use it in collage.

I was working on a piece and slathered some gel medium down on my canvas. I put the tissue on top and it immediately wrinkled, almost like it was a light weight vellum or something. Ugh, I didn't care for how it looked, so I hurriedly pulled it up and voila, that is when I realized the design had transferred.

Wow, what a thrill. It even worked when I tried a second time on purpose. Of course I have no idea how stable the color will be. It does look pretty cool though.