31 DAY CHALLENGE, DAY 27 - inspired by artwork

Recently, midway through a 6-hour ass-numbing drive to Buffalo, NY, John and I made a pit stop at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, in Utica. 

It was our first visit to this small regional museum.  Frankly, I didn't expect much more than an hours' respite from driving.

Turns out, the Munson-Williams-Proctor is an absolute gem.  Its impressive permanent collection of 19th and 20th century art features important examples from the works of Thomas Cole, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Wassily Kandinsky, Georgia O'Keefe, Mark Rothko, and so very many more.  We were in awe.

With that visit in mind, today's manicure has been inspired by...

ABSTRACT ART

Joan Miró, thumb; Jackson Pollack, index finger, Mark Rothko, middle finger; Edward R. Bush, ring finger; and Morris Louis, pinky

In preparation for this challenge, I began with clean filed nails, and then applied a layer of my current fave base coat:  Palladio's Moisture Surge.  It's not easy to find, but this treatment has done wonders for the split and peeling nails I'd been experiencing this past summer.  Strongly recommended if you've similar problems.

Ordinarily, with nail challenges, I work on all five fingers simultaneously, first painting a base color across the hand, and then going back to each nail, for each subsequent technique.

Not this time.

This time, I decided to focus on every nail, individually finishing the job before polishing it off with Seche Vite top coat, and moving on to the next finger.  See below for all the macro shots...

The thumb nail art was inspired by Joan Miró's, The Gold of the Azure (1967).

For a base color, I went with  two coats of NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel in Taxi Yellow, and then returned to the nail (while it was still tacky) for some freehand sponging, painting and striping.  For those techniques, I used NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel in 134 French Tip White (dot), Nails Inc. in Baker Street (blue dot), Orly in Haute Red (dot), FingerPaints black striping polish (dot, star, and "figure").

It was Jackson Pollack's abstract drip action painting, One: Number 31 (1950) that inspired the sponged and splattered nail art on my index finger, above.

Against a white background (NYC French Tip White), I straw-splattered Orly's Black Vinyl, and OPI's Did You Ear About Van Gogh, a khaki-beige creme, and then sponged the whole deal up a bit.

For my middle finger...

I looked to the color-field works of my favorite abstract expressionist, Mark Rothko, and reached for Orly's Haute Red (base color), NYC Long Wearing Nail Color, 114, Taxi Yellow, Zoya's Shelby, and Orly's Black Vinyl. 

Moving one digit to the left, we've next got the ring finger... 

Here, I was inspired by Edward Revenir Bush's Moon Beam.

For this nail, I went with Orly Black Vinyl for my base color, and then dotted a blob of Julep's Lisa, a khaki-green creme and a tiny smidgen of NYC French Tip White, in the center, taking time to sponge the results around, until it boasted some texture.

Next up at bat:  the pinky finger...

My final nail was a nod to Morris Louis and his colorful stripes.  Here's how it went down....

Against a neutral beige base of OPI's Did You Ear About Van Gogh, I used a long striping brush and laid out vertical lines of Nails Inc.'s Baker Street, FingerPaints' Black Striper, China Glaze's Desert Sun, Color Club's In the Limelight,  FingerPaints' White Striper, and Orly's Haute Red.

Well, that's all she wrote, folks!  I really enjoyed the freedom of this challenge, and dearly hope two things:  

1. that you got a kick out of it, too; and 
2. that the artists who inspired this post are not rolling in their graves.  

With that said, please join me in checking out the art-inspired goings-on with our challenger friends....

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Mari at Nailista
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance 
-Me, Myself, and Polish