The other things I find in my garden beside bird feathers are empty snail shells. I usually pick them up and bring inside, hoping to one day use them in an artpiece.
The time had come when I was thinking about what to do with the second burlap cnavas. Just like with the bird feathers, I worked in a series and used very similar techniques. I first layed out a rough design.
I worked on 4" x 4" pieces of watercolor that I had painted with a soft shade of burnt sienna. After I had glued down all the papers and added some parchment colored acrylic paint I thought that it needed something else. So I picked one of my favorite stencils from Stencils Girls, mixed a shade of green that I liked and stenciled these plants onto the papers. Already it looked much better.
The pieces I wanted to used as background for the snail shell are paper towels that I accidentally colored a while back (I can't remember how that happened, only that it was unintentionally and I liked the outcome). However, when I glued down the papertowel, it almost completely disappeared. I wanted to bring out the texture, so I used some India ink pen (Faber Castell) in raw umber on the edges and "smeared" the color to the center. Much better. Some more gesso through stencils and I also added a small piece of burlap to each piece. Then I adhered them to the burlap canvas - I had to that first because I put some super strong tape on the back of the watercolor paper, but I had to do that before gluing the snail shells down, because otherwise I would not have been able to lay the paper flat for adhering the tape (I hope this explanation isn't too complicated).
Only after everything was fastened to the burlap canvas did I glue down the snail shells, using Aleene's mixed media adhesive which has a very strong hold. It had to dry 24 hours and then I added final touches, like the white framing of the papertowel using a white gel pen (Debra, thank you for writing about them in your last SITAR post) and some white gesso on the burlap. Done.
Here is each of them.
With these snail shells I'm joining Nicole's Sunday in the Art Room.
14 comments:
...Carola, you found the perfect use for the snails. They are some of Mother nature's finest sculptures.
Wow! Your artist brain goes to the most extraordinary place of creativity. These are brilliant and very saleable. Each layers is well thought out and brings color and texture to highlight the shells. I love them. Thank you for sharing with SITAR and have a very nice Sunday.
These are exquisite, Carola! I love them! And I'm glad the white gel pen worked so well for you!
Lovely snail theme today!
I am loving your art!!
Brilliant artwork. I love them. So much variety in each shell. B x
I love that you used nature to make something so beautiful!
These are as fun as your feathers Carola. It's great how you now have these cool wall hangings. I hope you have a great start to March. hugs-Erika
Dear Carola, I don't have much manual skills, and I always enjoy looking at your creations.
My creative spirit peaks especially in autumn.
And it mainly consists of sticking an autumn leaf on a glass, putting a candle in it, and letting the light shine through. That's all!
You can imagine how "talented" I am, and why I come to your blog with such joy to see what you have created with your skill and imagination.:)
With love. Éva
Dear Carola, these are gorgeous.
Creative and very appealing, Carola. Well done. Nature is tops! Huge hugs - David
How cute they are :)
Carola, I second Erika's earlier comment that the snail art is as creative and lovely as the feather art you previously showed. Using things from nature and your own talents made for some unique creations.
I love this series, Carola. And the trio look just wonderful on that burlap background -- very natural and rustic but not contrived. I'm impressed!
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