I have to laugh. While attempting to come up with a catchy title, I tried several before ending up with this one. I talked my way around to the one you see and immediately after typing it in, I thought back to The Muppet Show’s ‘Pigs in Space’ segment. Too funny! On with the project update!
I started working on my second panel yesterday and finished it up today. It’s not complex, which seems to be what I notice most about mixed media art projects I’ve viewed. In fact, it puts me in mind of a coloring book. I think this one would look pretty cute in a little one’s room.
I painted the panel a solid black. I fingerpainted some galaxies, dotted on some stars, and painted in a few simple details with a brush. I swept a coat of hologram glitter paint over the whole thing. I used acrylic paints because they cover surfaces well and dry quickly but I still had to wait a few minutes between layers of paint.
Once the panel was painted, I moved on to making the embellishments. Honestly, I would’ve liked to do more with this but a small panel and a large mask left me little place to put anything else. I searched through my scrapbooking scrap paper envelope and found a cute space themed paper. It was regular, thin scrapbooking paper, though of a good quality. I wanted to make sure that the pieces I added would last for quite some time, even if the panel was never put into a frame. I decided to use Mod Podge to back the scrapbook paper with some card stock. It worked pretty well but the paper had a tendency to curl at the edges. I’m thinking thin cardboard would work better in the future. I cut out one martian ship and one ringed planet. I stuck some dimensional stickers on the back of my space objects and tried to stick them onto the panel. The dimensional stickers didn’t stick to the paint so I dabbed a bit of Fabri-tac onto each sticker and placed the objects where I wanted them.
Once those were in place, it was time to embellish and place the mask. This mask needed very little embellishment. I chose a green hologram fabric to make a horned mask, embroidered in pale gold. I added some antique brass eyelets at the ribbon holes. Then I had a big decision to make. I knew I wanted the “ribbons” to extend from the top of the panel, as if the mask was flying through space. I thought I might use some shiny gold ribbon, threaded through with gold beading wire but it seemed like it wouldn’t be strong enough to stand upright when put together. I opted for a heavier gauge copper jewelry wire instead. I cut two lengths for each tie. I then had four lengths of copper wire. I loosely twisted two of them together, then did the same with the other two lengths of wire. I popped one end of each tie through each ribbon eyelet and curled the ends in random patterns to hold the wires in place. I flipped the mask over and dabbed a bit of Fabri-tac at each eyelet to make sure the wires wouldn’t turn or slip. I also tacked each of the ties to another place on the back of the mask for added stability. When the glue was dry, I flipped my mask over to the right side and used Fabri-tac to stick it to the panel. I used my pliers to make zigzags in the wire ties to give them a more geometric feel.
It may not look very complex but I do like how it turned out. It’s fun to look at and it makes me smile. Here are the photos I took of the finished panel.
While trying to figure out the setting for my panel, I wondered what I could use as a little complimentary decoration. Last year, the kids put together a little robot. I thought he’d look good beside the panel. The colors didn’t come through so well no matter what I used to edit it, so I just had fun with this picture.
The gold thread shows up a bit darker in this photo but the fabric of the mask shows really well. The yellow sun-looking spot in the mask’s eye is actually a spiral galaxy. The large white ‘star’, I’m calling a supernova. After I’d finished the whole panel, I wondered why I didn’t try to add at least one more shaped galaxy. Oh, well. I’m still satisfied.
So my second panel is done. I have one remaining panel and several masks to choose from but I now have my theme. Magiba is simply mad about Paris, so I thought I’d use a French country theme. I’ll sift and sort through my supplies and see what I can uncover. An art project and an adventure! Who knew?
“There they stand, the innumerable stars, shining in order like a living hymn, written in light.” ~N.P. Willis
Unchained Emporium 