My Childhood Artists Narrative Inspired by the work of Gustav Klimt

THE NARRATIVE: This week I thought about the narratives of children and the important in the moments of childhood. I contemplated readings about the ideas that the adult world has for children. Adults run ragged trying to provide what is needed; yet children understand that simplicity and imagination is fantastic. I brainstormed ideas about my childhood, which typically involved water. I decided to depict a summer day at the pool where diving sticks, buckets, and goggles provided hours of fun. My sister and I would fill buckets with air, and then force them under the table inside our pool. The buckets perfect for our secret underwater conversations.

THE ART: I chose Gustav Klimt my style does tend to have swirling movements and I was immediately drawn to Gustav Klimt’s tree of life. I wanted to show a fantastical world of seclusion, peace, and imagination that I felt as a child in the pool.  I wanted to depict my underwater world as separate from the adult world above and its cares of going, and doing. The style of Klimt is bejeweled, and playful, perfect for a fanciful underwater scene. I used watercolors to achieve an ethereal quality.

THE PROCESS: I started with pencil thumbnail sketches on business cards. I chose a sketch enlarged it and printed it out. I used a marker to thicken and simplify the line. I decided to eliminate most of the lines then I re-printed the image and painted right on top of the laser printout. I repeated this layering process of painting and printing 15 times.

THE COMPLETION: I started adding small amounts of swirling acrylic paint on top of the prints until it looked painterly. I decided that I was finished, but the composition had shifted. The world above was on the diagonal and my position was now more centered. This “happy accident” was the finishing touch. The world above was out of line with its rushing about, but I was perfectly placed in my underwater seclusion.