Sunflowers (Part I)

Happy New Year to all my blog followers out there, apologies I have been absent for so long however, unfortunately my father was taken seriously ill and so for some time I was unable to do the hobby I love or post anything for you all to see.

I am not a believer of New Years Resolutions, I believe life changes can happen at any given time of the year.  One such change for me took place at the end of last year when I left the commute to work behind and found a job closer to home.  This has meant that several positives have been gleaned from this.  Firstly I am less stressed and therefore have experienced a much appreciated improvement in my long term health problems.  Secondly I work closer to home so have more hours in the evening to enjoy my craft and art projects, reading and generally quality time with my husband.

Another change to my life last year was the introduction to the world of Art Journalling by the amazingly talented Lesley to whom I owe a debt of thanks and dedicate this blog.

She has instilled in me the confidence to source my inner artist, something I loved as a child but was beaten out of following with the usual lack of talent piers can put on us as a developing adult.

This canvas was inspired by the vintage scrap booking papers I had in my left over stash and so I decided to apply these to one of the 8x8 canvases I had purchased as a further transition in my artistic journey.  These were adhered to the canvas using Mod Podge Paper and sealed with the same product.  Once this had dried I then applied Distress Stains in Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade to areas for shading, then I spritzed over the canvas using the brown Dylusion spray in my stash and blotted and blended this in to the papers with a baby wipe.

I am a big advocate of the wonderful artwork and tutorials on You Tube (this particular inspiration came from Marian Smith and her 31 Journal Pages of January) and the following stage was inspired by one of these tutorials.  I have had the floral paint fusion stamps since their release and not had much in the way of personal inspiration for me to use them, but today they called to me.  Based on the colours, I chose the Sunflower set of stamps and decided that I would compile the image (stamped using a dark grey stazon ink pad) on one thin layer of white tissue paper.  Once I was happy with the composition and where I wanted to locate it within the canvas I tore the image from the sheet and adhered this directly to the canvas using Mod Podge and sealing again with the same. 

I am now playing the patience game and need to wait for this to now dry before it will be ready to commence with the painting of the floral images.

Watch this space for further information and a final photo.

All the best Emma