Mixed Media Monday - Art

This week I chose "art" as the challenge on Mixed Media Monday. There are so many different artists that I love but Vincent Van Gogh would have to be very high on my list of favourites. I love his art, so decided to paint a little tribute to him this week. It is painted on to a stretched canvas 14x18 inches or 35 x 45 cms. Peeping through are three of his more famous paintings, and I also added some of the lyrics of the Don McLean song, Starry Starry Night, since the song kept playing in my head while I was painting (that seems to be happening to me a lot lately). It was basically created with acrylic paints, modelling paste for texture and stencils, rubber stamps etc. for some visual texture and depth as well.

Mixed Media Monday - Buttons

I chose buttons off the top of my head for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge. I decided I felt like continuing to play with polymer clay - so the idea of my little jack in the box (or should I say jacqueline in the box) was born. Her head and arms are made from polymer clay and her facial features are painted with acrylic paints. Her little dress is fabric and lightly stuffed. Apart from the obvious buttons on her dress, I used tiny buttons to attach the arms like a lot of vintage dolls and bears and also used a flower button and tiny button for the embellishment on the box.

I have been wanting to......

I chose "I have been wanting to...." as the theme for Mixed Media Monday this week to give people the little push they might need to try something they have been wanting to try for some time, but haven't. I have been wanting to try a steam punk pendant for ages, so this was my opportunity to actually do it. The pendant looks a lot bigger than it actually is, because the bust isn't all that big. It is made from gold, silver and copper metallic polymer clay, and is also dusted with some mica powders to give it a lovely metallic look. I used some watch parts and other bits and pieces to finish it off.

Mixed Media Monday - Warm It Up

I usually love working with warm colours, much more so than with cool colours. That's why I was happy to have "warm it up" as a challenge on Mixed Media Monday this week. But then my muse worked out the door and didn't return - probably in protest that my studio is still not set up and everything is in boxes. So left to my own devices I was struggling. The song "It's too darn hot", sung by Ella Fitzgerald of course, kept running through my mind - so maybe my muse was sending tiny hints from afar, but I needed more help than that! This piece was done on a canvas board using computer generated lyrics and image, oil pastels and acrylic paint, tissue for texture and some chipboard - oh and a paint pen for those dots.

Mixed Media Monday - Cool It Down

After I chose this challenge for Mixed Media Monday I wondered why. Cool colours are not something I work with easily - I tend to gravitate to warm colours much more in my art. Then I remembered this gorgeous blue bottle that my daughter commandeered from her boyfriend for me. I think it had chilli wine in it. So the idea for an art doll developed. I used a silvery blue fabric paper (I'm not sure what it is called), some laces, a pair of feathery wings, an old plastic doll's head and a few other bits and pieces to create her.

Mixed Media Monday - Seeing Red

It was great having the luxury of Beth hosting over at Mixed Media Monday this week - it took the pressure off me having to produce a sample piece :-) So I took advantage of the opportunity and did a journal page about becoming an empty nester this week. My three children are all depicted by the birds flying the nest - but I do actually know where they've gone, LOL! This was done in a water colour journal using mainly water colour paints and Pitt brush markers.

Mixed Media Monday - Embellish It

I have to admit to a little self indulgence when I chose the theme for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge. I wanted an opportunity to use some of the beautiful laces painted by my daughter Danni - they are just so beautiful. My piece is worked on a sweet little 15x15 cm or 6x6 in canvas with different fabrics and silks. The image is an image transfer onto fabric and it looks better in real life - it didn't photograph all that well. Then of course the gorgeous laces give it a rich, delicious finishing touch - well, actually, they are what makes the piece! The good news is that Danni has given me some of the dyes - so I'm going to have a go at dyeing some myself one day soon :-)