Cardboard Quilts in Progress: Newborns

I've created ten new cardboard quilts in the past few days, and I've started painting five of them. I'm probably going to use up all of my cardboard squares this time, and make as many bases as I can. I'm hoping for another ten or fifteen for twenty-five total. I get these pre-cut corregated cardboard squares from my publisher; they come in packages of books and would be recycled anyway. They save them for me so I have plenty right now. I love the look and feel of them all along the process.

These photos capture very, very early in the life of a piece of mine, consider them newborns of about 3 months old. They're alive and healthy and starting to show some personality, but they're way too happy and cheerful and bright and in-your-face. Don't worry, life will happen to them along my artistic process, lol. Right now I'm subdividing these basic squares into smaller checkerboards. Each square will be divided into four for the most part, to make the overall pattern much tighter. I think all of these might end as straight-up abstract paintings of colorwork. Well, I might add a few printed images. And definitely more detail work everywhere. This is at the end of layer one, with perhaps 25 or 30 layers to come, with a further 6-8 clear coats on top of them all, sanded down between coats of clear.

I've been working 12-15 hours a day painting and gluing cardboard together, but I'm used to juggling lots of things. All of the wood I've collected is calling my name wanting to get put together, but there are only so many hours a day...