Art is a Way of Life-Off the page Chrissi M

Hello Lovelies

Do I have something different for you today!

I decided to go Off The Page today. Its been a while since I've gone off the page. But I had so much fun making this, I love it.

I started with an old paint palette I had laying around. It was used in the past, so I started by covering it with Heavy Gesso. It only took 2 coast to give me a nice base, ready to add my colour.

I wanted a nice dark blue, and I knew the Artist Ink in Marine would be perfect. I used one of the small misters that came in my Colour Blast Mixed Media Kit, and added some Marine to the mister, then topped up with water and viola- my own Marine colour spray. Then I went to work spraying my palette. I also added some Indigo in the Colour Sprays. I love the colour combo.

I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't take that much ink to get vibrant colours. In the past I have had problems getting spray inks to be vibrant when applied over gesso. Not the case here. I applied my sprays, let them dry- with some help from my heat gun then applied another layer of colour. 

Now it was time to add some texture and interest to my background. I went with Royal Colour Paste and a stencil from my new Oct Colour Blast Kit. I Adore it!! 

To add some more detail, I used the matching stamp from the Oct kit as well, and a circle stamp from a previous kit. 

Now for the focal point of my project. I wanted an artistic quote. I want to use this as a wall hanging in my art room. So I chose

 'Art is a way of life'. I drew the letters for the word Art by hand- I know right!! I cut them out and painted them with Black Heavy Gesso. Then used gel medium to glue it to my palette.

I overlapped my letters a bit to make it look more symmetrical. To define the edges of my letters from each other, I then traced around them with my white stabilo.

I wanted to use this awesome new die I received in my Oct Kit- which you can also purchase from the online store. Its a fabulous distressed butterfly. I cut some out in black cardstock and a dark purple colour too. 

Then it was time for the focal point of my piece. I really wanted to use paintbrushes and an embellishment for my piece. I made a little cluster with the butterfly, some dyed cheesecloth and my brushes. I love how this turned out!

To finish my quote, I used a set of wooden stamps I have. I love the look this gave the quote.

And that's my project. I adore how this turned out, just as I pictured in my head lol. That doesn't happen often, so I was very happy.

I hope you enjoyed my post, and have been inspired to try something new. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Chrissi xxx