Bathing Beauty

Today's an exciting day today, because I get to share a piece that I created for my Bleeding Art Challenge DT show piece! I love being a part of this super talented team, please check it out & if you love mixed media it is a fantastic place to enter & show off your own creations & possibly win a prize too.

For my Bathing Beauty shrine I began by painting the plywood shrine with 2 coats of white gesso

When dry, using liquid acrylic paint by DecoArt I painted the frame with 2 coats, allowing to dry between coats. Next, I created the background by adding a little water to the paint & began dry brushing with light strokes, building up areas of colour.

Now for the fun part, I gathered a pile of natural shells, glass beads in various sizes & opacity, resin pieces, charms & coloured sand. I applied some soft gel medium to the floor & added some coloured sand. While that was setting, I applied some shells to the sides, back & then the floor using heavy gel medium. I recommend using the bigger shells first, then start filling in with the smaller shells & beads, allow this to dry & set firm.

I used a paper straw to make the sea washed post, after cutting it in half & coating it in gesso, to which I added a little gel medium & allowing to dry, I coated it again with gel medium & sprinkled some embossing powder directly on to the still wet gel, I made the mix myself, by combining different coloured powders together! When coated, use your heat gun to create the magic, add more powder & repeat to get the desired effect as required.

Tip: I found it helpful to put the straw on to a pencil, it makes it easy to hold while working on it.

I stamped, fussy cut, tinted & varnished the sea gull & glued him to the top of his post. The Mermaid is a cut out on paper, so I coated her with UTEE to make her more rigid & stable. I used 2 mini cotton reels behind her, to allow her to stand proud. Finally, using heavy gel medium, I placed the shrine on to the plinth, added some more shells & coloured sand to the front of the piece & filled in any gaps that I wasn't happy with, using tiny beads & added the anchor charm. Using a black paint pen I drew a few seagulls around the mermaid & I was done!

Products used

Ideology Vignette - Tim Holtz  

White Gesso - Pentart

Gel Mediums- Pentart

Liquid Acrylic Paint - DecoArt

Various Beads Charms & Sand - Artful Days 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today, please leave me a comment, I really do read them all & return the favour by visiting your social media art space!

Jane x