Mixed Media Monday - Opposites Attract

I chose a very open theme for Mixed Media Monday this week - opposites attract. I was thinking along the lines of black and white, but in the end opted for vintage creams and sepia with a splash of red for contrast. The piece is done on a canvas board 12.7 x 17.8 cm or 5 x 7 inches. The background is made up of vintage papers and music sheet, and other collage elements, and then distressed with gesso and distress inks. Then I added lots of vintage laces, and the woman was printed onto a fabric sheet. Some tiny, tiny buttons and a flower motif were the finishing touches and the contrast needed for this challenge.

Mixed Media Monday - Marvellous Moustaches

Over the last two weeks we have had some wonderful meaningful challenges on Mixed Media Monday so this week I decided to mix it up a little. A little bit of fun and nonsense - "marvellous moustaches"! My piece is done on canvas board again 12.7 x 17.8 cms or 5 x 7 inches. I've used lots of fun collage elements and computer generated images and coloured with oil pastels.

Mixed Media Monday - Mothers and Daughters

This week I've chosen "mothers and daughters" as the theme for Mixed Media Monday. I thought it was time to put aside the oil pastels for a while, and decided on fabric art this week. The piece is done on a canvas board 12.7 x 17.8 cm or 5 x 7 inches. The background is done with zap cloth and an assortment of laces painted with several acrylic paints. The picture was printed onto a cotton fabric sheet and I coloured it with prisma colour pencils. This was mounted onto a piece of stitch and tear, which was painted and stamped with a rubber stamp. Then I added some ribbon and a flower lace motif which I painted with acrylic paints and added a faux pearl brad as the finishing touch. Truly mixed media, this one!

Mixed Media Monday - Pink

I chose "pink" as the challenge on Mixed Media Monday this week in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Although this is a cause near and dear to me, working with pink is completely outside my comfort zone, grin! Anyway, this is what I ended up with - a painted collage on a canvas board (again) 12.7x17.8 cms or 5.7 inches. It was created with the help of lots of collage elements underneath some gesso and blended oil pastels, a computer generated image, some ribbon, chipboard letters which I painted and a flower and brad.

Mixed Media Monday - Maps

Beth is back on Mixed Media Monday with a new challenge for us - "maps". I have a bit of a crush on these collages with blended oil pastels at the moment, so I opted to do another one for this challenge. There are maps behind the man and woman, along with a compass, penny farthing bicycle etc. I fancy the couple are trying to find their way back together again :-) The piece is done on a 12.7 x 17.8 cm or 5 x 7 inch canvas board.

Mixed Media Monday - Meaningful Music

Yvonne is our new guest host over at Mixed Media Monday this week. She has issued us with a very interesting challenge - to take a piece of music that has meaning for us, and make a piece of art around that. I found this challenge particularly hard, because I love all sorts of music from classic to pop, from opera to country and everything in between. There were just too many possibilities! Then the words of the song sung by Lee Ann Womack, I Hope You Dance, popped into my head. I think the lyrics are very meaningful, so I went with that. The piece is done on a canvas board 12.7 x 17.8 cm, or 5 x 7 inches. I used lots of computer generated collage elements, along with some vintage papers, including the sheet music. The piece is coloured with water soluble oil pastels (without water). The lyrics of the song, for anyone who isn't familar with it are:

I Hope You Dance lyrics

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin',
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin' out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

Dance....I hope you dance.
I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
I hope you dance....I hope you dance..
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone)

Mixed Media Monday - Metal/Metallics

I'm hosting the challenge again this week on Mixed Media Monday, which is always fun! It gave me the opportunity to use another of these gorgeous Nichos that my son gave me for my birthday. This time I sponged the metal star with metallic psints (Luminere and Atel=lier), I added a computer generated image to the niche, along with a minature bottle with beads (including gold meallic), some cheese cloth (coffee dyed) and a string of pearls. I added a piece of metallic German scrap to the window as a finishing touch. This gorgeous little metallic Nicho stands about 18 cms or 7 inches tall.