"Waterlily" Texture Painting

Hi!  Since I keep disappearing from these parts and have tons to catch up on, I'll just jump right in...

I'm going to start sharing some of my art that you haven't seen  yet out there in Blogland.  This piece was finished last May and I'm completely in love with it!  So much so in fact that it's recently sparked a whole waterlily/lotus series that I'll share with you later.















I started by printing out one of my photos in black and white onto paper, sealing it, and gluing it down onto a canvas.  I then used heavy gel medium to create texture, and painted over it all when it was dry.















Love that texture!















To finish it off I gold-leafed, antiqued, and sealed the sides.

The photo that inspired this piece was one that I  took many years ago, of a waterlily in a koi pond in my parents backyard.  I always knew I wanted to do something with it.  I'm so glad I did!  Ah... so pretty!  (Can I say that about my own art?  hee hee).















I have greeting cards available of this painting, and will get some prints made of it also.  If you're interested just let me know!

So what have you been up to out there in Artsy Blogland?  I'd love to know, it's been too long!