Thursday 26 June 2014

More and more of dimension - Altered Doll

Hello, Friends...

First of all, let me tell you how excited I am seeing this huge wave of Design Team applications flooding us from all over the world!!! :)
We are honestly impressed - seeing old friends and meeting many new artists, reading your personal stories and - my, oh my... - experiencing your enthusiasm and absorbing A LOT of fantastic mixed media art!
As you probably imagine, it's quite a whirlwind and it will take us a while to go through all the entries... Please, be patient... We pay attention to every single e-mail we receive and we're spending some amazing time on your blogs and all of your virtual galleries.
And I know everyone says it but now I realized how true it is - we already know it will be super tough to narrow the numbers down.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your amazing kind words and sending an extra wave to all my students! :)

And while we keep reading and admiring and racking our brains about the future Finn Team, I'd like to show you a very special project of mine...

I just LOVE challenges: no matter if they come from the outside world, or I when do something to challenge myself - they always push me to create better, faster and more. They open new doors, windows and gates and let my ideas run free. But is it possible to challenge myself to do even more dimension in my mixed-media projects? Some may say it is not going to be easy... but how about creating a 3D version of one of my collage characters?
Fun? Inspiring? Oh, yes!


Here is the whole story:
I was lucky to find a suitable base for my project is a sale department of a popular Irish DIY shop. I have to admit - this figurine was ugly. Faceless, colored in browns and deep reds it was a modern version of home decorator's nightmare... but it had promising shapes and size! Lack of face was a bit creepy though - luckily I had in my stash something matching perfectly this project: a white resin mask from Shabby Chic Treasures by Ingvild Bolme (Prima). It was a perfect moment to try some fabric hardener (I used Powertex) and a combination of gesso, Silks and more traditional acrylic paints.




First - the outfit: I used pieces of fabric, paper flowers, gauze and Powertex to create a multi-layered, dimensional dress and hair decoration. It took a while to dry, but when it was finally hard enough to proceed with embellishing, I used thick glossy gel to add the elements I wanted: metal embellishments (Prima Mechanicals and some findings), polymer flowers, gems, lace and more.
Again - the project needed a break for drying before I could cover it all with gesso, acrylic paints and Silks.
I have to admit - the colors were chosen by my husband - and I love the final effect we got with this combination!

Here are some Instagram "in progress" photos I found:




In general, it took me about 2 days to finish this girl, including fabric wrapping, drying, painting 2 or 3 times and drying again... but you know what? She was worth of every minute. I had the best possible time playing with all the layers, colors and grungy stuff. And I'm really pleased with the final result!
I'm hunting for more figurines and Powertex now - ideas are waiting in a row, I just need a bit more time, right? ;)

Here are some of the supplies I used and I must say that they became my go to products no matter what kind of project I'm currently working on. This must be love... ;)


Happy creating, everyone!



37 comments:

Ana said...

OMG !!!

No word. It reminds me the time of the powertex big wave. With bright colours. I love it.

corinne de france MARCH said...

oh le powertex ;-) une belle GITANE

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Wow now that's a piece of art. The colours are so rich and so eye catching.a truly stunning piece. Tracy x

Licho_Nie_Spi said...

Fabulous and exotic at last!

Lia said...

STUNNING..Finn

Annette said...

OMG just isn't enough but that is also all I can think of. This is beautiful. You have me so hooked on your creative ways and style . thanks for sharing the process xoxoxoxo

Annette said...

Me again, wonder if we could repurpose Barbie?

Bonjourscrap said...

Impressive. Looks like fun to make. You should have taken pictures of the doll before...

AngelicaS said...

Love it!!! Fabric hardener sounds interesting.....a great project, looking forward to more 3D creations xx

zandra said...

Speechless! So, beautiful, WOW.

Linda M. Cain said...

Simply stunning. The colors are peacock gorgeous!

~Linsa

Helen said...

Oh,Finn, she is (now) beautiful!! I love that strong colour, well done to your husband!

unni's scrappeboble said...

Woooow, completely awesome :)

Unknown said...

Fabulous, I love all the details, I wanted to try Powertex a long time, now sure I will!

Marianne/skorpionen said...

Such an amazing Project!! Love it and adore the colors!!
hugs

Linda Manning Findley said...

This is awesome ... great job and what an inspiration ... thanks for sharing

Unknown said...

Fabulous piece of ART!!! LOVE!!

barbara macaskill said...

This is absolutely gorgeous! I see that you used the Silks to colorize her. Have you read the article regarding the Silks fading drastically? If not I recommend that you do before using the silks on many more projects. I would hate to see your beautiful work fade and lose it's glory!

Hellen said...

OOOOh my goodness, this is absolutely gorgeous! So much detail! I love these colors!!!

finnabair said...

Barbara thanks for the info. I have a lot of my projects painted in Silks including this one and nothing faded so far. .. this one is 6 months on display already... collages are on the walls. Nothing happened. Who posted about that?

Siobhan Brignull said...

beautiful work, would love to have seen pic of figure before transformation x

Maura said...

She is gorgeous!!

Amy Lynne said...

This is amazing! So gorgeous, with lots of depth.

PocketSize said...

Wow, this is breathtaking!

Lisa H said...

this is beautiful!!

Maryann scrapbooking said...

Bonjour Finn,

C'est magnifique !
On dirait presque une femme au carnaval de Venise.
Dieu que tu es douée.
J'adore tout ce que tu fais.
Je n'arrive pas à mettre beaucoup d'éléments comme tu le fais si aisément. Pourrais-tu nous montret plus de tutoriels en vidéo ?

Une cliente et fan.

MaryannG

Unknown said...

Every time I see a new project I am in more awe then I thought possible. You are extremely talented and I enjoy your style! You are awesome and keep the ideas flowing.
Big Fan!
Have a great daym
Tracy

barbara macaskill said...

Finn ~ It took me a while to find this article that I had read on Facebook but here it is: http://marah_johnson.typepad.com/random/2014/06/warning-luminarte-products-do-fade-drastically.html
LOVELOVELOVE your beautiful lady!
Barb

Kezzy said...

Wow wow wow truly gorgeous stunning unique creation, I cannot believe that something that looks so beautiful now could have been so bad but of course as the story of the Ugky Duckling by Hans Christian Henderson you have changed her into a most magnificent swan :-) Kezzy xxx

Priscilla said...

Wow, incredible!

Carol McCready said...

Just gorgeous. Must have been so much fun to create.

Anna Sigga said...

WOW!!! This is amazing - utterly gorgeous!

Anguree Jansen Van Rensburg said...

Absolutely incredible Finn, wow you never seize to a, amaze.

Judi said...

She looks like she is just coming home from mardi gras in Venice. Very opulent and exotic. Love it.

agnés said...

J'aime beaucoup.

Gloria Stengel said...

That is the most creative thing I've ever seen! What a transformation! Those greens....oh my! Beautiful.

SamsHomeCookedDesigns.com said...

Oh WOW I absolutely love this. Lucky me too, in about two weeks time I am in an all day workshop with you at Wynyard!! I can't wait, I am just making my badge now. See you there. xxx

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