El Corazon

Translation:  the heart, and it's what I've called the page I just completed for Tracy's Frida Kahlo journal.
It's full of texture and rich color and my current obsession, transfers.

The packing tape transfer of Frida and the monkey allows the inked and stamped background to show through.

The three Fridas are not technically transfers.   They're stamped images on tissue adhered to the page with gel medium.  Again, because of the thinness of the paper, the background peeks through.

That's what I love most about transfers.

This Frida quote was stamped on ExtravOrganza, a product I read about in one of my many transfers-for-dummies type books.  It's actually silk on a paper backing, and you can run it through your printer, stamp on it, paint or draw on it....and when you peel it off the backing you have an incredibly sheer piece that can be glued or sewn onto your project.  It has very nice texture, which of course is lost in the photo.

Because of her many physical ailments, Frida often did paintings with fairly graphic representations of human organs, which is why I put the realistic heart within the romantic heart.

And here is the page as a whole:

Further details:

• background began with some distress inks applied directly to watercolor paper, then sprayed with water and blended with a paper towel.
• next, I did some stamping with archival inks (coffee and olive), most of which has disappeared under the ensuing collaging, but you can see the blades of grass peeking through Frida's face in the lower right corner
• all the images were applied with soft gel medium, and strips of stamped tissue were added here and there, in addition to bits of colored paper towels.
• I gave one of the Fridas a real earring to wear, and yes, to continue the theme, it does have a heart shaped bead.

I love all of the work that Tracy does in the various collaborative art journal groups we're both a part of.  I'm hoping she enjoys what I've done for her here too.