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.

Finnabair On-line Workshop

 

As I didn't have any appropriate tissue papers, I made my own in prep for the class.

Saturday afternoon, all set up and ready to go.

And here we are, live with Anna.

I've just added crackle paste to the edges here.

And moving on to the next step. Keeping up with Anna.

Once everything was dry it was the building up of the elements.

Once I was happy I stuck everything down and then that's where I stopped for the evening as I wanted to wait until it was all properly dry.  So this morning I gave everything a coat of white gesso.

Then I painted both pieces using shades of blue, grey and black, trying to add shadows, but I never have been any good at that!

Once the paint was dry I moved onto the waxes.

And lastly, added a bit of bling.

Close up of the front cover.

And close up of the back cover.

Really good on-line class, well paced and easy to keep up.

On the Road - Combi Camper Challenge

 

So over on the Powertex Australia Creative Hub FB page Ashley has started a challenge called 'On the Road - Combi Camper' and the idea is that we create a camper van to virtually travel around different points of Australia and create other challenge pieces when we get there. You can get a kit, but I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could make something like.  I used cardboard, bubble wrap and masking tape to get the basic shape.

I gave it all a coat of black powertex and once dried I used easy structure paste through a stencil on the roof.

I mixed up a batch of stoneart clay and made some flowers and a word.

I decorated the front with wooden pieces so they would stand out.

And then one side, wheels are done in cardboard.

And then more or less the same thing on the other side.  I wasn't precious about getting them exact, just similar will do for me.

I added more stencilling with the easy structure and then dry brushed everything in white pigment.

Next I got more or less everything out to get some colour on there.

As you can see, I went for bright bold colours.

And on the front I used quite a few chipboard offcuts and blended the colours in.

I'd decorated a few other bits and bobs I found in my stash.

Made sort of a spare wheel to put on the back panel and some lights and bumper.

I made a surfboard for the roof, let's face it, you can't have a camper van without a surfie now can you.

And this is what I ended up with.

And from the other side.

And this is the back.  I added some fibres to the ring and you will see why shortly.

That's because I've added a compartment inside and needed something to be able to pull it out easily.

And this is the front.

View from the top with the surfie.

A few close ups.

A bit of stamping.

Stone Art flowers on the roof.

And on the wheels.

And finally I made some tags including some postcards and a couple of tickets in case we need to get in anywhere.

This is my first tag.  As we are virtually travelling around Australia, my thinking is that when we make a stop I'm going to date a tag, write the place name and then after a bit or research, write a bit about it on the tag, or send a postcard and fill in a ticket.

Let the adventure begin xxx

If you want to join in, go to the FB page for Powertex Australia Creative Hub and join the group.