Christmas Wreath with a Twist

I picked up the mdf ring and Merry Christmas sign at Donny Dome in October.  

I covered the ring with t-shirt fabric soaked in bronze Powertex and once dry started to place some embellishments.

I used gesso on the words.

I decided to use a mix of natural elements and resin shapes.

The words looked too plain so I added some more resins.

I waxed the ring with gold, waxed the resin pieces in silver and added some touches of red.

Added 3 trees along the bottom.

Close up of the words.

Close up of the trees.

Close up of the resin and woodland pieces.

More close ups.

And the opposite side of the wreath.

Loving the resin elements.

This is for sale in my online shop if you are interested

 https://aviarto.com/christmas-wreath-15505

along with lots of other items.

Mixed Media Plaque - Ram

I painted a piece of wood black and then started playing around with different elements until I was happy with the layout.

Once I was happy I started to work on the background. I used gold leaf and then went over with a stencil and modelling paste.

I used Finnabairs mechanical stencil.

Next after I'd painted all the elements black, I glued them onto the background.

I threw on different shades of brown, rust, red and orange mica powders. I then sprayed them and watched them disburse.  You don't have much control over this, so you just have to let them do their thing.

Close up of the different colours of mica powders.

I just kept adding and spraying until I was happy with the result.

More close ups of the different colours of mica powders.

And this is the finished plaque.

Elivs - Decorated Vinyl

 

As I am one of Finnabair patreons, I had to try out this fab idea that she showed on one of her live sessions.  So off I went to the car boot to find a vinyl LP. It was dead easy as there were loads for sale, but I settled for Elvis.

I added some stencilling to the background using icing paste.

Next I added some woodland finds, random twigs and poppy seeds.

Next I added some chipboard circles and cogs.

I started to play around with the placement of some moulds, new and old.

This is the finished piece. Not my usual colours.

I decided to challenge myself to mainly pink and red, but a bit of blue and purple crept in too.

I can't tell you what I used as I just kept going until I liked it.

I used mica powders, paints and sprays.

I added splatters to the places where there were no embellishments.

Love how the colours just mixed and ran into each other.

And the final piece again and apologies for my arms at the bottom, but there was glare from the vinyl.

Industrial Style Plaque

 

I painted a piece of recycled wood with black gesso. I pulled a few bits and bobs out to go with the circuit board.

I stencilled on the substrate and started to stick the elements down with heavy body gel.

Gave everything a couple of coats of white gesso.

Next I added paint, I used burnt sienna, raw umber, watered down.

I then went on to use Prussian blue and sap green, again spraying with water and drying as I went along.

I then went over some areas again with white gesso to calm some of the colour down.

I literally just carried on until I was happy with the look.

And lastly I used some Finn waxes to high-light some areas and to add depth.

I also tried to create a rustic grungy look.

I also tried to create a patina look to the piece.

Up-cycled Skeleton Plaque

This is the front of a kitchen drawer that was being thrown out.

Painted it with black gesso then used grunge paste through a couple of stencils.

Once dried, I painted over it in black gesso.

I made a mould from a skeleton that I was given by a friend. Then I cast it in fast cast resin.

Got a few more bits and bobs out and started to build a composition.

Dry brushed the background with silver to bring out the texture from the stencils.

I used various purples and blues to paint the background pieces.

Close up of the top of the composition.

The skeleton clothing is coloured with pewter treasure gold and the bones of the skelly are coloured with old white matte wax by Finn.

I painted the cross gold as I wanted it to stand out.

Another close up of the various elements.

And finally, the finished piece.

I usually paint all the different embellishments / elements before I stick them down, but this time I glued them down, painted everything black and then added colour.