2016 Muse (and a guest spot)

So today I have a post over on the Words & Paintery blog. and it is a good one if I say so myself! First I should say that I'm guesting there as a sponsor via UmWowStudio. Words and Paintery has some really great monthly challenges and prize opportunities. The challenge for this month : 

A very wintery and appropriate color scheme paired with a beautiful sentiment. I chose to wrangle it all together and create a muse that I can hang in my studio. My hope is that the muse will continue to inspire me throughout the year, whispering words of wisdom and calming my fears. The muse will be there to embrace me when I need it, challenge me to try harder, do more and be held accountable.

And HERE SHE IS! She stands for creativity and honesty. for beauty and equality. She stands for all that is good. 

She started off as a raw piece of the Wire Cage Dress Form from UmWowStudio. I painted the chipboard in a whitewash of gesso and did a quick image transfer of text. The skirt is made from a single sheet of dictionary paper that was also whitewashed. I cut the dictionary page into strips and then used my Fringe shears to create even ribbons of paper. The strips were then scrunched into a skirt form and adhered to the chipboard with Gel Medium by Golden. 

To cover up the harsh edge of the paper skirt I tied a bow out of May Arts Silk Ribbon. The 1/4 inch is in gray and the 1/8th inch was originally white. I colored it using three new Zig real brush markers I got for Christmas! Then I created a bow tying it all together with a piece of Silver Cording from May Arts and a vintage shell button. YAY! This is sort of the little shining star that represents the color combo from Words and Paintery.

At this point I needed to step back from the muse herself and work on the background.. I need a place for her to live. She was ending up much too big for a normal sized tag.. so I pulled out a JUMBO tag from Ranger Ink. I was already in the whitewashing mood so that's what I did to the center of the JUMBO tag. then I did a bit of stamping with Distress Stain Spray (Hickory Smoke) using my Numbers Set from Viva Las VegaStamps!. I also splattered a bit of the ink on the background. The texture of the gesso on the tag covered in ink is delightful! Then I sewed a border and glued the tag to some chipboard to make it super sturdy.

With a nice sturdy base I was able to start gluing pieces down... including a pair of chipboard Tattered Wings from UmWowStudio. Then came the dress form.. and then this BEAUTIFUL handmade clay face. I get these from another artist.. her name is Mary Vogel Lozinak. I adore this one.. mustache and all! And finally I topped my muse off with a chipboard Crown from UmWowStudio. the crown has been covered in Fluid Matte Medium by Golden and doused with Prima Marketing Inc / Finnabair Art Glitter. 

The final touch.. my sentiment that I'd like to live 2016 by... Let's Get Lost. A stamp I designed for Viva Las VegaStamps! stamped in Archival ink by Ranger. 

I want to get lost in art... in creating. in things handmade. in adventures. in friends. in family. in laughter and music. It's TIME.