"Goddess Within" custom work

I got a message from a customer who purchased a piece of art from me several years ago.   

Her  sister had been visiting, saw the art, and "absolutely LOVE IT".   

She was wondering if I would make one like it that she could give as a birthday gift.

After explaining that you can never make an exact piece of art like the original 

she said go ahead and get as close as possible.

By this time I am stoked and ready to go.

13"W x 15"L loose canvas 

Gessoed then added a layer of joint compound for texture

After it dried I sanded then applied matte medium to seal the surface

Glazed with Golden Raw Umber

Sketched with charcoal

Added color using PanPastels and acrylic paint

Added more colors to the background using PanPastels

More texture added to the background with joint compound

After it dried I sanded it then sealed it with matte medium 

I wanted more depth to the background so added coffee ground, let it dry overnight

PanPastels and acrylic paints

Randomly added drops of black india ink

Stenciled vertical lines

Added more color with PanPastels

Stenciled the headdress using a paper doily and flexible modeling paste

Sprayed final fixative

After the headdress dried I sanded it then added more modeling paste to make it larger

Applied matte varnish

After the varnish dried I stippled another layer of matte varnish 

Let it dry for several days.

Varnished an vintage wooden clothes hanger, created a wire hoop with stone embellishment as a way to hang it

Attached the canvas to the wooden hanger

Signed it.

Finished.

I delivered this piece of art today and my customer LOVED it!

What a good feeling when the art I "create from my heart" is genuinely appreciated.

Thank You for all of your support and encouragement.

I will continue to do this because of YOU!

Bringing art to life #3

From the moment my fingers slid along the clump of clay and a figure began to appear.

I knew I was hooked.
One piece at a time, I am taking art that I have drawn/painted and giving it another dimension.  Almost like..."bringing them to life".

My hands are happy.

I've shared making sculptures  with some of my friends and they all attest to the relaxing feeling.

Just as we are all different so is each sculpture.

The inspiration of this sculpture came from a piece of art that carries

a very important message.

You can click HERE and HERE to see the other 2 sculptures I have made for this series 

There's more to come... Stay tuned!

She Has a Goddess Within

I happen to believe that we all know that we have a Goddess within, we just have to let her be seen. 

My intention was for her to resemble a regular woman yet when one takes the time to look closer what is revealed is the multiple layers that together creates a Goddess within.  

I took a liking to the Urban dictionary definition of a Goddess:

A woman who is so beautiful, brilliant, and wholesome that she is simply not like any other women on Earth and therefore possesses some sort of uncommon spiritual element that while it cannot be solidly defined it is clearly present. 

I've been asked by several people what I used to create her.  Please bear with me as I try to recall the many layers.  I did not document the steps as I did them. (this is a lesson I have now learned)

She is on an 14" x14" loose canvas.  I began by priming the entire canvas with gesso.  After it dried I applied a thin layer of joint compound (one of my favs) followed by a thin layer of matte medium to seal the joint compound then painted with acrylic paints.  Then I drew the face using charcoal  followed by painting her with acrylic paint.  After all of these layers were totally dried I did another layer combination of joint compound, matte medium, and acrylic paints excluding the areas where she was.  Accents colors added - shadowing was done - for her headdress I used a doillie stencil and modeling paste - on the other side of her face I used pan pastel and a stencil  and other mark making then sprayed with fixative - the random black dots are India ink - oil paint touches to her clothing - another thin layer of joint compound scattered around for the top layer of texture

There... I tried to describe how she was created.  If I missed something I apologize in advance.  Now I'm off to figure out how to mount her.  I have several ideas that I am mulling over.

If she speaks to you and want to bring her home just let me know.

the story behind the art

Last week, Thursday, I oozed enthusiasm because I was in the midst off creating what I deemed would be my signature piece.  By Friday, it was hard for me to contain my excitement.  But, I did!  This was my second day working on this project, I felt it was worth every minute of it.  I only showed two people the preliminary photos.  I used some of the mediums that I enjoy creating with the most ~ joint compound and hot glue.  The background began with a layer of joint compound for texture.  After it was dry I gave it a coat of matte medium to seal it then I painted several layers of acyclic paint followed by stenciling and mark making.  The flowers + stems + the hand + her face and neck are all from hot glue. (and yes, I burned my fingers a lot!)  I  painted all of these items with several layers of acrylic paint to get it "just right".   After all the pieces were done I laid it all  out on the canvas to determine the placements.  That's when I snapped the photo.   By this time I was so excited that I could actually feel my heart smiling, too!  I was in artistic heaven!!   Saturday was met with trepidation because it was time to complete the project by gluing it down.  We all know what it's like to do the final stage on a piece of art.  It can be daunting.  I pushed thru fear and glued everything down.  It all seemed like a walk in the park.  I carefully placed it in another room to dry overnight. When I checked it this morning the first words from my mouth was "Holy Shit!  What the f**k happened?" The rest I will not repeat!  She was a BIG  mess!!! All over her face and neck were bubbles.  It looked like she had cysts all over her.  My heart sunk!  Most of my day has been devoted to trying to resurrect my would-have-been signature piece.  Nothing I did was flattening the bubbles.   Later this afternoon I succumbed to the fact that it was useless to try any further.  So you may wonder if I was disappointed?  The answer is YES, I was.  Altho... I didn't cry.  After a short while I did what I know best, I got out my journal and started writing.  I wrote about how much and what this piece meant to me,  I relived the pure joy from several days ago when she looked awesome (to me), I wrote about my sadness that all the work seemed to be a waste of my time.  I evaluated what I can do technically different the next time.  Last, but not at all least, I wrote about what I was to learn from this experience.  So many personal and spiritual thoughts rose to the surface.  From the very depth of my heart I can say that I am grateful for this experience.  My signature piece still lives within me and one day will be exposed.  I will continue to show up and inspiration will find me working.

I was able to salvage her head.  Not sure what to do with it.

As the Terminator says:  "I'll be back!"