Let's Get Cracklin'

Experimenting with crackle finishes is more fun than I anticipated.  The results are not predictable, and I'm trying to determine a bit more about how to get what I want.  So even though each attempt is a crap shoot, I like the suspense!

I played with some little muslin pieces and this one reminded me of a Chinese painting.  It was just an serendipitous outcome because I was just layering the paint and glue to discover the effect of colors.

Decided to thicken let the glue dry a bit more and thicken the green paint for the birdie.

The finish on this figure also has a burnt umber stain over it.  The figure crackled/aged nicely, but the hearts in the center didn't crackle.  I had been thinking about e.e. cummings and the line "i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)"

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world,my true) 
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings

and this one by Sidney:

My True Love Hath My Heart, And I Have His by Sir Philip Sidney

My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange, one for the other giv'n.
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss;
There never was a better bargain driv'n.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides;
He loves my heart, for once it was his own;
I cherish his, because in me it bides.
His heart his wound received from my sight:
My heart was wounded with his wounded heart;
For as from me, on him his hurt did light,
So still me thought in me his hurt did smart:
Both equal hurt, in this change sought our bliss:
My true love hath my heart and I have his. 

Two of my very favorite companion poems -- same theme although Sidney was born in 1554 and ee cummings in 1894.

Now, back to the works in progress...