Let’s Create Some Art!

I do not consider myself an artist in the classic sense of the word; creative, but not an artist.  When it comes to painting on canvas with oil or watercolor, etc….I leave that to the truly talented.  Have you been invited to those Paint and Wine classes? Yes?  Me too but have politely declined.  I mean, paint AND wine, can you imagine the results?!?  Well, I suppose the wine could  bring out my inner artist but I have some doubts. I have, though, created beautiful pieces of art.  

Several years ago while browsing in an adorable Shabby Chic boutique, I saw the most interesting work of art.  The piece was quite large – 2′ x 4′ – and created on canvas.  It looked like the artist had taken a medium similar to wall texture, covered the canvas with it and then added different elements to give it texture.  The result was very unique and quite beautiful.  I pondered buying it but #1 didn’t have wall space at home and #2 the price tag of $400+ was above my casual shopping budget.

As with many things I find for purchase, my thought was ‘I can make something like this’.  Do you also do that?  Have you found that it usually leads to spending way more $ than you had calculated for the project and sometimes much more than it would have cost to buy the initial item?  In my experience, it usually means I end up with enough material to make several items and than I normally follow through with just that activity.  In this case, though, I already had paint, wall texture in the form of joint compound and different elements that could be added to the piece to create that unique look.  All I needed to purchase was a canvas and a print of something interesting that would look good with the decor in the dining room.  I found the canvas at St Vincent’s, a local thrift store and the print at a local craft store.

I brought the canvas and print home and began creating.  The first step was to glue the print to the canvas.  I used watered down Elmer’s glue which I applied with a foam brush.  Once the print was centered on the canvas, I smoothed it down with my hand and let it dry.  When it was dry, I then applied a thin coat of the watered down glue over the surface to seal and protect the print; then let that dry too.  The next step was to apply the joint compound to the entire canvas.  Applying the compound or wall texture is much like frosting a cake.  It has the consistency of frosting and almost looks like vanilla.  You just have to remember NOT to lick the putty knife, hehe.  The putty knife I used for this project was one of the 1″ plastic ones.  Once the canvas was covered and the texture was swirled in an interesting pattern, it was time to let it dry.  The drying process usually takes a few hours.

After the texture was dry, I glued on a little piece of lace in the lower left corner of the canvas with Elmer’s glue.  When the glue was dried, I painted the canvas and added a few stenciled leaves, hearts and designs.  This piece of art hung on the dining room wall for a few years and was then moved to the mudroom.

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When I was pondering a wedding gift for my daughter and son in law, I wanted something they could enjoy on a regular basis and thought it would be fun to create a some wall art for them.  I also wanted to use a piece of art that my son had created to be used as a wine label.  There were several reasons I thought it would be nice to use the wine label in the present:  1) The wedding was in September  2) It was held at a winery  3) My daughter and son-in-law have a peach tree in their backyard  4)  They were married under an oak tree  5) Her brother had created the label.  

Now that I had decided to create an art piece with this label, I knew it would be nice to apply it to a canvas like the piece I had created for the dining room.  I wanted it to look different, though, more artsy and special so I began the hunt for ideas.  After some searching, I ran across mixed media collages!  I hadn’t heard about this form of art before.  It was similar to the canvas I made for the dining room but oh, so much more!!!  The artist that really caught my eye is Finnabair by Anna Dabrowska.  She creates beautiful works of art!  Now that I had a plan and some inspiration, I continued to do some research to find out what supplies I would need to buy in order to acheive the look I wanted.

Once I had my list of supplies, I looked through my craft room to see which ones I was missing.  I already knew that I would need to get Gesso and Heavy Gel because I had not used those products before.  Into town I drove and found both products in Michaels’ art section.  I also needed a canvas.  Since I was going to be creating a collage that would have many elements glued to it, I knew I would need to get a beefier canvas than the one I had used for the piece I created for myself.  I looked through Michaels’ section of canvases and found a $29.99 16 x 20 that would work well.  Before I left the store, as is my normal activity, I went to their Clearance section.  To my surprice, there was same size canvas for $5!  The reason it was just $5 was due to a tear along one of the edges.  I figured I could cover that with an element so I grabbed it and headed home.

Now that I had my supplies, it was time to start the creation!  The first step for this collage was to decide what size the print should be.  After getting a visual, I decided to go with the larger one.  Next, it was time to glue the print to the page.  Marking the canvas at the corners of the print makes it easy to center the print canvas. Gluing down the print or a picture is always a bit nerve wracking, especially if you don’t have an extra one. The process to accomplish the gluing down is to be fast enough that the glue doesn’t start to dry and wrinkle the print but slow enough to ensure good adhesion to the canvas as well as removing any wrinkles or air bubbles.

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After the print was glued to the canvas and the glue had set, I applied Modge Podge over the front of the print.  E6000 – it just depends on what you are gluing as to which works best.  I found that Golden heavy gel in matte works very well.  With the base texture applied,  it was time to add elements.  List of supplies and instruction steps are at the end of this post.

What makes mixed media so fun is that you can go crazy with the elements and use both old and new.  Examples of elements: trinkets, electrical supplies, wire, old broken jewelry, silverware, cookie cutters, drawer handles, hinges, light switch covers, sewing notions such as zippers & thread spools, plastic pieces like lids to water bottles.  The options are endless-use your imagination!  You may find, as I did, that some of the elements like the chicken wire and lace will need something heavyish placed on them to help them lay flat while they dry.  This will allow good adhesion to the canvas. When all the elements have been glued on, cover them with Gesso using an artist brush.  Gesso will help the paint adhere to all the different types of elements, wood, metal, fabric, etc.

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The next step is to paint – what colors?  For paint, you can use interior wall paint or any variety of arts & craft paints.  I used what I had on hand which was acrylic craft paint and interior wall paint.  Before adding paint, I glued one of the smaller sample prints to a piece of cardboard and played around with colors.

When you apply the first layer of paint, don’t be concerned if you don’t like it, you can always paint over it but remember that the final result will look much different anyway.  I started with orange and yellow but it looked too bright so i added a tan border around the picture.  That helped soften the look but it was still a bit bright so I thinned some chocolate brown paint with water and sponged it over all the painted surface for a more muted look.

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Now the fun part begins!  You could leave your art piece looking like this, but to bring out each of the elements and help them pop, painting each one is a must!  I just started highlighting each element with acrylic craft paint both in flat and in metallic.  The metallic adds shine and shimmer to the piece. 

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It was so much fun creating this gift!  And now that it was finished and since my craft room was already a mess and I had an excess of supplies, I figured that I should make a few more.  I’ve lost count, I have pictures of 17 but I remember making another of the forest books one, I must not have taken a picture.  Making these collages is therapeutic and really brings out creativity.

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Items needed

• Canvas
• Print or picture if using
• Paint – acrylic craft, interior latex 
• Modge Podge, E6000, Elmer’s white glue
• Golden Heavy Gel matte
• Liquitex Gesso
• Wall texture or joint compound
• Base texture such as: tissue paper, chicken wire, burlap, fabric, lace
• Elements such as:  trinkets, electrical supplies, wire, old broken jewelry, silverware, cookie cutters, drawer handles, hinges, light switch covers, sewing notions such as zippers & thread spools, plastic pieces like lids to water bottles
• Artist paint brushes and small foam brush
• Small plastic putty knife
• Small plastic containers

Instructions

• Decide where you want the placement of a picture or print (if not using a picture or print, go to step 5)  Mark canvas with a pencil for placement
• Apply glue thinned with a little water or Modge Podge to the back of the picture/print using a foam brush
• Position picture/print at your marks on the canvas, lay it glue side down and smooth into place
• Once the glue is dry, with a foam brush, apply Modge Podge or glue thinned with a little water to the picture/print and allow to dry
• Start gluing your base texture using Golden Heavy Gel, Modge Podge or Elmer’s white glue.  You may need to set something heavy on top of certain elements to get them to lay flat to adhere to the canvas
• When the base texture is dry, apply wall texture with a small putty knife to the entire canvas, excluding the picture/print.  Allow drying
• Begin gluing on your elements.  You can stack them for depth and interest.  Chose the type of glue depending on the weight of the element
• Paint the entire canvas with the exception of the picture/print if you used one
• Paint selected elements using a small artist brush and acrylic craft paint in gloss, matte, metallic
• Give as a gift or enjoy your art in your own home

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