Friday, February 15, 2013

The Snow Child

After a very long time of non painting I am finally joining Paint Party Friday again. Painting was put on the back burner for a long time because I was really busy with making Valentines for my Etsy shop - both regular as well as custom orders. But now that Valentines is over - I sent out my last rush order on Sunday - I have a bit more time for painting since business is very slow again.

I had actually started this painting at the beginning of this year when I had just finished reading "The Snow Child" by Eowyn Ivey. If you haven't read it - it's a really good read, although a bit sad. However, I was fascinated by the idea of the snow child who in an old tale was half girl and half snow person. In the book she also has a little fox as her companion. Her "adoptive" mother sews a blue coat for her that is covered with little embroidered stars. The girl lives in the woods and is a true child of nature who remains mysterious throughout the book.


In order to give the painting a heavy texture, I covered the 8 x 8 wooden cradle board with molding paste and pressed bubble wrap and the inside of a Starbucks paper sleeve into the still soft paste.


Masking tape helped me to position the aspen trees.


Everything was covered with acrylic paint then - I used Paynes Gray to create an Alaskan winter night.


After I had my "base" I painted in the little scene - this actually took the longest. This is the first time that I tried a painting that was inspired by a book, and I quite liked this little experiment.


The original painting is now available in my Etsy shop.

Please hop over to Paint Party Friday and Studio JRU to see the works of many very talented artists.

25 comments:

Mary C. Nasser said...

Wow! Fabulous texture!!!
♥♥♥
Happy PPF!!
Mary
Mixed-Media Map Art

Netty said...

Good to see you back Carola as have missed your beautiful artwork.
Loving this fab textured picture.
Happy PPF, Annette x

http://nettysartadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

Anonymous said...

This is a sweet painting. I especially like the starry birch forest and that little fox face. Thanks for the book recommendation, too. I looked it up and was intrigued enough to buy a copy. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Lisabella Russo said...

What a sweet little fox in your painting! I also love the texture work you did, it really grabs my attention.

Gabriela said...

Beautiful painting!I love the way you created texture!

Tracey FK said...

glad to see you are back painting and sharing your work... this one is lovely and I have made a note of that book to go and hunt it down... sounds like something I would enjoy...xx

Christine said...

such beautiful texture you have created!

Erin Butson said...

I love this Carola! I love seeing your process too.

foxysue said...

This is lovely Carola, I especially loved the fox but then I would wouldn't I being a fox myself! ;~)x

Abela said...

Great and fun piece, I liked it as it has been discovered doing. Saludos

Beverley Baird said...

A beautiful, textured painting! Loved your detailed description of the process.

Made.by.Fay said...

I love this little picture! The texture is amazing. And it is full of personality. Thanks for sharing.

Blessings,
Fay

Anonymous said...

I so love this! Thanks for sharing the steps you took to produce it!

Meri said...

This is really cool, Carola -- love the textures.

EVA said...

A gorgeous painting - a snow child :) sounds like a cool idea to base a novel on.

You captured the description wonderfully.

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Ein wunderschönes Werk, die Struktur und überhaupt alles, total klasse.

Jennifer {Studio JRU} said...

the texture is fantastic on this, carola! what a wonderful inspiration for an art piece. sounds like a good book! :)

Giggles said...

Excellent texture and thanks for showing the process!! Good job!

Hugs Giggles

Ginny said...

I love this piece. The first thing I thought was how did she get that texture. Thank you so much for sharing all of the steps that were taken to create such a wonderful piece of art.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Welcome back to PPF! I didn't play along this week but hope to next week.
Rinda

Ginnie Hart said...

This is brilliant, Carola! I especially like that you explained how you made this. I'm quite in awe of what you do with your mixed media.

Ivy said...

LOVE this, what a lovely scene! HPPF!

Kate North said...

A lovely serendipity to visit your blog (via the Grow your blog party - still trying to visit them all!) as I have just finished reading The Snow Child about 2 days ago. I enjoyed seeing your painting of it :)

Gabriela said...

Hi Carola!!!!Your beautiful fence calendar arrived!!!Thank you so much! I truly love each and every picture!!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks!!!

Deborah Tisch said...

I adore this painting! You inspire me with how you did this as well as the story behind it.