I made this rough draft on watercolor paper, which is really thick, using acrylic paints. I enjoyed the opportunity to just paint, but my perfectionistic tendencies kicked in and made me not too happy with this. It's no bad for a first attempt, but in doing this, it made me realize that painting on my Dining Room Canvas will probably not be possibly because it is too 2-D and my art is calling out for 3-D! So I will instead be using much more paper products to create paper flowers, stems and other things.
This pic shows me layering a bunch of grunged-up pieces of papers that I aged with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo and Frayed Burlap. I love the look of old postcards and birdies and flowers and butterflies, so there will be even more of those things layered on the canvas. But this was a start. I also printed some song notes and some journaling on vellum, and used that to layer because I love the translucency of it. I used decoupage glue to adhere the pieces to the canvas.
So here is a pic showing the project to date. I will continue to prepare the rest of the pieces that go on top of this first layer, but it will take time for them to dry before I can add them to the canvas.
Here are some handmade, vintage, paper flowers using pieces of the journal paper that I layered on the canvas. Here's how I made the flowers:
I inked the strip of paper, then wet it a little, so I could manipulate the paper and wrinkle it up nicely. I then gathered it up into a round shape and glued it in place.
I then added some little flower buds that I had made a while ago, to the centers of my grunged flowers.
These flowers will add a lot of dimension to the project. I also plan to make some butterflies and maybe a bird cage and some birdies. And, of course, the center piece of the art, which is not totally developed yet!
Off to create I go!