Cynthia Morgan

"Self-Portrait"
8" x 10"


Materials & Process: I used a 8x10 sheet of Bullseye thin Light Peach Cream for my “paper,” because it’s nearly translucent, has a pleasing warm tone, and doesn’t overwhelm fine lines and shadows. Then I mixed together Bullseye powders, in Woodland Brown, Salmon, and Black, to come up with a warm, variable dark brown as my “crayon.” I sifted the powder mixture onto the glass, and moved/subtracted the powders to form the image. Periodically I reached a stopping point, where I felt I’d disturb the existing sketch if I added new powder, so I’d fire to a tack-fuse (1325F) before proceeding. This technique tends to fade thin applications to invisibility, so after each firing I’d add more powder to strengthen a line or shadow, and fire again. All told, there are five firings in this piece.

Content / Intent Statement: I tend to overcomplicate everything, so I wanted this piece to be as close to a simple sepia sketch as possible. No frills. No details. No complications. The woman in this picture looks skeptical, as if she’s beginning to wonder if what middle-aged life promises isn’t simply more of the same. What she doesn’t need right now is more complication.