Thursday, September 24, 2009

The Melange Fabric Challenge

The Melange Team of wonderful mixed media artists have a challenge today - use fabric in mixed media art. Glenda Bailey of twocooltexans on Etsy blessed us with this challenge, and encouraged us to add lace, threads, and all kinds of fabric to our art.

Here is my Melange Fabric Challenge piece: Miss Alice



Miss Alice is a 6" x 6" gallery wrapped canvas with 1/2" sides. Green and white acrylic is sponged on the front and all sides. The first foundation fabric is printed with flowers. The tan fabric on the next layer is cotton lace. The next layer is pink hand-dyed paper towel. The layer under the photo is an embroidered doily. Miss Alice is a print from a vintage photo. Above her is a paper print of a vintage letter. Below her is pink netting draped into a silk flower with hand-dyed paper leaves and a faux pearl center. I love the look on Miss Alice's face, don't you?

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Mixed Media Monday Challenge for "make something round"

I was introduced to Mixed Media Monday by Glenda Bailey of TwoCoolTexans on Etsy. Glenda encouraged me to join this Monday's challenge to "make something round."

"BONES" is my mixed media art for "make something round." The three game pieces with the paws on them are the "round" part. This art is based on the quote next to the tree trunk: "If a dog's prayers were answered, bones would rain from the sky." And bones are certainly raining from the sky for this little dachshund.

The angel is a clipping of a very old angel painting and sits in the tree watching. A tiny bird hides in the branches and watches. The tree trunk is stamped with Love, Rejoice, Blessed and Believe. The Scrabble tiles spelling BONES represent the prayer being sent. The measuring tape at the bottom reminds us to ask "does a dog have faith in prayers?"



The model for the dog is a photograph of Oscar, who lives with my friends, Pam and Felix. Pam and I were enjoying a painting day together at my home when Oscar suddenly sat up and looked at Pam, knowing she had treats in her pocket. I snapped a photo of his "little prayer." When I found the dog quote, I knew I had to paint this piece.

Materials: canvas, acrylic paints, paper, wood, stamps, Staz On ink, Golden gel medium and E6000 glue.
Here is a link to MixedMediaMonday: http://mixedmediamonday.wordpress.com/
Visit their blog to see all the wonderful art for this Monday's "make something round" challenge.