Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Mermaid Up-cycled Art

click to see it bigger

This project came about because I was bummed that I couldn't/didn't sign up for Jane Davenport and Teesha Moore's new class Mermaid Circus. So I decided to make myself a consolation mermaid but wasn't sure what medium to use - an art doll? A canvas? A card? 


Then we bought a new coffee table from Ikea and it had this awesome piece of cardboard inside the box. I immediately saw the potential 'canvas' and got to work.
 
First I used brown paper packing tape to seal the open edges.
Then I covered it with a thick - and I mean THICK - layer of gesso. Cardboard is really pours and absorbent so I wanted to make sure it saved me from having all my paint sucked up into the fibers

Then I took stacks of torn paper in shades of blues and greens and squished them into the gesso, kind of like wiggling tiles into grout. 


Once they were all placed I laid my craft mat over the top and pressed it down to make sure everything was nicely stuck down.


From here I rubbed gelatoes, pan pastels and paint into the "grout" to make up the background.

Then it was dark, and I failed to take pictures *hangs head in shame*... so... Ta-Da!




I tried to make her a lot more sketchy and expressive/figurative as opposed to realistic or crafty. It's really scary sharing work that's different from what I normally do.


And the happy ending to this story is that my sweetie bought me the class so she's no longer a consolation mermaid. She's just a fun new favorite.

12.25x16.5

This is my entry for the April 'Take the Challenge' with Mou Design Memory Craft prompt,

Today's challenge is about making something new from something used or old. 
 April is Earth month and I feel that upcycling something creatively might show a little bit of our love for our beautiful planet.

Also, I got the idea to make the tiled paper background from Donna Downey's CPS Art Lesson - only $1.99 . But I went way off track to the point that I didn't follow along at all really. I should definitely go back and take another crack at it.




5 comments:

Dagmar said...

wow - a fantastic painting - an absolute art work!

Sparkly Engineer said...

Love the idea of upcycling that lovely bit of cardboard. I like your expressive mermaid - no need to fear showing her off and now you will have a double memento when you take the class

Melanie said...

Lucky you getting such an awesome piece of cardboard. I LOVE your mermaiden. :)

Cyxx said...

I love the tiling and ripple effect of the cardboard. The mermaid is fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Came to your site via Faber-Castell love your work. Would you please send one of your fabulous creations on an envelope to
Lake Worth 100- City Hall
7 n Dixie Hwy
Lake Worth Fl. 33460
We have a call for mail-art for our centennial celebration. Envelopes are not opened. if you put your e mail on back of envelope we notify you of it's arrival, an exhibition is in planning stage meanwhile all envelopes appear on LakeWorth 100 blog Deadline Nov. 15 your not limited to just one.