I always use paper towels to clean off my brushes, and have always been amazed by the beautiful striations of color that result when I wipe my brushes off in the paper. 

The only problem is, that usually we are told that applying oil paint directly to a fabric surface that has not been gessoed, will eventually break down. So, if I wanted it to really last, then I needed to prepare it properly.

So over the weekend, I decided to finally go for it, and try applying gesso to the paper towel, to see if I could achieve similar results. I was fascinated by the texture of this paper, and the way the paint moves across its gessoed surface. 

I started experimenting with a tiny sliver of the gessoed paper. I didn't want to waste it all at once, as the gesso application process was a bit time consuming, and I only prepped one tiny little square!

It was so gloomy today, so I started looking at pictures from my trip to Mexico, and found one image that I really wanted to remember. It was the view from our hotel room. Such a perfect view. 

The colors were so amazing. I decided to use my first little strip of paper to create a representational painting to help me to remember that view.

This little sliver represents the strata of color we could see from our balcony in Mexico. Sometimes, we don't need all the details to remember a place. 

For me, just seeing the colors brings back the sights, and the feeling of the warm sea breeze blowing through the gauzy hotel room drapes, the smell of the beach side grill, and the sound of the gentle waves rolling into shore. 

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