swilsy

Finding form

December, 2, 2025

This was not planned. I didn’t intend for the color of the putty to come out the way it did. I started with the painted birch board. I did a sunburst coloring with bright neon spray paint. Experimenting with the paint and having no intentions.

The putty was died with emerald green Rit dye. I was hoping for a deeper green color but it ended up a sea foam green that really popped off the orange.

Design wise, I only planned to leave the center exposed. I worked outwards from there.

I had to rotate the board a few times before I could see what it was. The orientation I ended with was because I saw a phoenix head near the center. To me, it looked like a phoenix expanding its wings. The lines with the color, it made sense.

I appreciate the light changing the contrast of the lines and paint. I have lights that flow through a spectrum of colors which made the piece breathe.