Wanted: New Medium

Let's be clear-I'm no artist, I'm more of a dabbler. I have lots of ideas but not so much skill in the artistic department so papercrafts, especially collage, is ideal for me. (I'm also in love with my Print Gococo cardmaking machine.) One of my favorite things to do are paint chip portraits.

Yeah, paint chips like at Home Depot.

They are the world's best FREE art supplies. You can take as many as you want and then go back the next day and get more. They come in all different shapes and sizes and they all have names so you have the lovely combo of words and colors. (Naming paint chips? Oh, how I'd love to have that job!)

So, when you're making a portrait you have that person in mind, go to the store (or stores if you're anal like me) and you'll be amazed at how many applicable chips you can find. The better you know someone-the more history you have together-the easier and more meaningful it will be. Then you arrange them all together in a pleasing way, stand back and let the compliments roll in. A greater challenge is to make one for someone you don't know. Without the shared experience it can be too obvious and superficial. More difficult still is when you don't know the person and what you do know you're unlikely to find a paint chip for. This is happening to me again with my most recent project. When your reading or listening taste runs dark I guess it's gonna happen. It seems homeowners just don't want rooms with colors like hit and run or parking lot. (Although I did find a cool green today called Jealousy-how'd that slip through quality control?) So, I'm gonna keep my eyes open-you can't do found art without looking (duh!)but I'm thinking I might need a new medium.