Layering on photos

After taking several online classes this year, I’ve really learned a lot. I am finding that I love layers. Before these classes I knew I loved a piece, whether paper or material, but didn’t realize that the artist had spent so much time layering and layering.

My artist friend, Kathy, has been an big inspiration for my push into this layering frenzy. A couple weeks ago we spent a Saturday visiting a craft fair and perusing the local Joann’s and Blick stores. As we were leaving she gave me the Mini Daisy Cluster stencil from the Crafters Workshop to play with. Kathy sells these in her etsy shop.

Mini Daisy Stencil
Mini Daisy Stencil

Since I love photography I wanted to work at this layering on one of my photos. This picture was taken last weekend at one of the gardens on our local master gardeners’ garden walk. I printed it on canvas.

I just loved this little building the gardener had in her backyard. Now to layering. This is where I could feel the anxiety taking hold of me. How can I mess up this picture? How could I improve on it?

I thought about what a local photographer had told me in an interview for an upcoming column. More on him soon. “Photography is an attempt to duplicate the feeling you have – what draws you to that vision.” So I asked myself, how could I embellish this photo to help the viewer see how I felt?

After much layering, here is my finished piece.

Finished piece
Finished piece

And a closeup.

Closeup
Closeup

I also used a few other stenciling materials Kathy had given me. If you look close you can see some of the other patterns.

More stenciling stuff
More stenciling stuff

This layering has opened up a whole new world to me. And then using it on my photos – pretty exciting!