My Tree Overfloweth

My Tree Overfloweth - Florence Turnour 2020

This project started with a palette of collage paper. I chose a palette of colors, then I painted thin lightly waxed Sandwich Paper (deli paper) using these colors, using a gel plate and some of the stencils I designed.

I created a large tree stencil, painted a black rectangle on watercolor paper, and sponged the tree onto the background.

Then I started designing animals. I drew the animals in pencil, and used the photocopier to resize them until they fit nicely on the tree.

I cut the drawings out, and traced the shapes onto my collage paper. For the small details like eyes and ears, I assembled the shapes before cutting them out.

Here they are.

I worked on this one type of animal at a time over months, between working on other things, and not having time to do any artwork. I posted the individual animals on Instagram as I went. I made a few animals that didn't go on the final tree.

These rhinoceroses were too busy, and ended up in a stack.

My mother is making a baby quilt using these animal shapes for the border. She asked for flamingos and an elephant, even though I didn't plan to put them in my tree. I decided they should also be in a stack.