"Trying to Keep the Memories Together"

I have, as you know, selected a few old watercolors that went into the "oh-boy-this-isn't-going-anywhere" file box. Often they have some actually interesting subject matter but I have not been able for some reason to "compose" the painting.

Excellent chance to play with Zentangles!

Using the Zentangle patterns as illusions to old fabrics I have put them together with a painting of our old oil lamp here at the north woods. I know I did this a number of years ago because my husband's glasses on the table are old plastic frames! And the old copper bell was his mother's "ring-you-to-lunch" bell here which we now use in Florida for that purpose (up here we need a louder bell and I use my old retirement school bell for that now!). So anyway I had been, I remember, practicing painting lace in this painting after taking a class at Dillman's. Arleta Peche...the QUEEN of painting lace. Oh MY!

So I got that far and fizzled out. So I have renamed the painting "Trying to Keep Old Memories Together" and am having a lot of fun with the tangles.

My last part of this is to use the negative space in the left hand corner more creatively without over-burdening the painting.

One idea I have is to extend the tangled picture frame that you can just see in the left bottom side of the painting into the left corner coming up under the pink checked cloth and having some gentle and not too distracting tangle in that part of the frame. The painting already touches the mat in 3 places so I don't want to go up too far. Any suggestions?

Arches 140# cold press. 11 x 15 watercolor, ink, graphite.