Hanging In The Balance

Are you having a good creative Monday?

I love this moment - a new week, a new stunning inspiration from my Creative Team - and we can always count on Gayle to amaze us with her beautiful Art  - always so meaningful, every single time making me stop and wonder.
Her new assemblage is one of those pieces you won't forget...

Hello lovely Finnabair friends.
I love to work on small wooden blocks, something about their solidity maybe. I’ve created a collage/assemblage using a recycled, embroidery hoop as the centre piece.

Within the circle (representing the world) is a face (humanity), a heart (love), a cross (religion) and a clock (time).
From what I see and hear every day in the news, (represented by printed resist canvas ) I can’t help but think that humanity, love and religion hang in the balance. As a civilisation, is it time we “put our house in order”? I don’t wish to be “deep” and “depressing” but it’s hard not to think about the future when the world appears, in so many ways, to be “out of control”.
Making art, getting our thoughts down onto paper, canvas, wood or into a journal and telling a story is something I need to do and love to do.

Some of the stages involved in making this piece:

No.1 A small embroidery hoop covered in White Gesso.
No.2 Using Soft Matte Gel as adhesive, cover the hoop with a patterned paper napkin.

No.3 Paint all the embellishments with Black Gesso. When dry, add a light coat of Art Alchemy acrylic paint in Metallique Light Patina and Opal Magic Blue-Gold. Highlight in Ancient Coin.

No.4 Using Soft Matte Gel and a black and white photocopy face, I image transferred it onto a wooden block. If you'd like to know exactly how the transfer technique works, I posted a tutorial a while ago - {take a look!}

No.5 Elementals Newspaper Resist Canvas glued to the back of the circle using 3D Matte Gel.

Added colour with Art Alchemy acrylic paint.

No.6 Collaged patterned paper around the sides of the wooden block.

Stamped onto the face with a Finnabair Read To Me clear stamp. Added colour to the cheeks and eyes with acrylic paint.

No.7 Attached all the coloured embellishments into the circle with 3D Matte Gel, along with a sprinkling of Silver Micro Beads.

No.8 Gathered some muslin, which I later tea dyed, around the resin hand.

Detail of the attached hand, collaged sides and attached message.

The beautiful richness of Art Alchemy Acrylic Paints and a Heart Locket filled with Art Stones.

Whatever inspires you to create is valid. To express, in a creative way, our questions, doubts, fears and even anger is, for me, a little like venting to a close friend; it’s necessary and it feels good.
Hugs, Gayle

Materials used: