Studio Focus: Cast Ironwork

I've been exploring with cast ironwork patterns in my studio for almost a whole year now.  I am still unsure about it, but I'm interested, so I keep going.  I started these explorations with relief prints which were sourced from photos I had taken.

I've realized I need to work these patterns by hand and then make prints from those patterns.  I have more control over the composition this way and I can also format the relief prints to make repeat patterns.

 

Until recently I hadn't explored these patterns with paint.  I've been experimenting with color, layering, and creating these patterns freehand in oil on chalk gesso.

 

I've also been looking at the shadows of these ironwork patterns.  I recently started to cut out the negative spaces in my prints, then I take these prints, project a light through them onto a dollhouse I have in my studio.