MERMAID IN A BOX

As you already know if you visit my blog on a regular basis, the Paper Whimsy Art Group is among my very favorites as they always seem to tempt me with unusual projects that challenge me to stretch myself as an artist, to learn and grow. This weekend I finished my latest of their projects on which I worked for days and days and days. The participants are each creating a Mermaid In A Box, and we are to create a story to explain her form and the elements we used in her shadowbox.

My Mermaid is named Pasha, and I imagine her as the infant daughter of the Greek God of the Seas, Posiodon. I started with a 5 x 7 shadowbox which caught my eye because the glass is at the back of the frame instead of the front which is the usual form of shadowboxes. This gave me the option of suspending my mermaid in front of her glass protected background so that she moves and looks like she is swimming through the waves. I used one of my favorite Paper Whimsy images of an adorable little girl for Pasha's upper body. Her tail I fashioned from clay onto which I stamped a spiral pattern and then colored with Pearl Ex Powder. Her wild hair is felt curliques, and tucked under her arm is her tiny mermaid doll (a charm). Gold seashells and starfish lie below her on the ocean floor as she swims toward her father who has his magical trident in hand.

I fell in love with her during the creative process and will be a little sad to send her to her new Paper Whimsy owner, when the partners are announced. Of course, that sadness will be completely offset by the joy of receiving from another Paper Whimsy participant their Mermaid in a Box. The artists in the group are truly an amazingly talented group, so I have no doubt I will love the one I will receive.

May's 8 x8 Tip In Pages

My partner for this month's tip in pages with the AlteredArts Group is Gina Wise, who is a dear and cherished art friend of mine, so, of course, creating her pages was a double pleasure for me. Her theme is Bible Stories or Verses, and I chose one of my favorite Old Testatment stories. . . Joseph and his coat of many colors.
Working on white cardstock, I stamped layers and layers in shades of brown, dark green and black to coordinate with nubby black paper and green toned images of Joseph's story. I created a multicolored coat from cardstock and impressed an Egyptian image into air dryed clay colored with PearlEx Powder.
Gina has received the pages and assures me she likes them, so I am a happy girl.

Springtime Gothic Arch in Fabric

Near the top of the list of reasons why I love being a member of the Paper Whimsey Artists Group is their unusually creative swap/mingle challenges. These prompt me to work in forms and with materials which I might not otherwise explore. That was cetainly true with the Fairy Slippers Project, which I recently featured here on the blog and which got me to use fabric and beads. I carried that a step further by completing another fabric challenge this week: a Springtime Gothic Arch and Charm. Guidelines were to use fabric as the background for a springtime theme and hand make a charm to attach to the arch. The fabric jumped right off the store shelf and into my arms because I loved the vivid, vivid colors and images on black. While I know that black is not a color usually associated with spring, it works for me because it represents the departure of the darkness of winter and the arrival of the vivid light of spring. My charm is a minature version of the clay love buds with which I've been having so much fun of late.