Hi Friends!
I'm Robin and I'm excited to share my art and a little of me with you today.
I get inspiration from a variety of places. Fierce women like Freida. Nature, with all its beauty and wonder. People who are brave and stand up for what they believe in. Children who see the world with fresh eyes and excitement. As I thought about my first project for #100moonscollab, it seemed fitting to start with Freida. I love her quote used on this piece; to me, it speaks to this pandemic time and to life in general. It reminds me that life is short, that things change, and I need to make the best of those changes; to use them as inspiration rather than to be bound by them. The quote reminds me to be more gentle with myself, because time is limited and it's up to us to make the very most of every moment we are given.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I love to combine fabric and paper and use an old fashion typewriter to give something a vintage feel. This project only requires a few supplies. Paint, brushes, ink pads, a stencil and one stamp from and mixed media chip from Rubbermoon, one stamp from 100ProofPress, and one Artfoamie. It shows that you don't need a lot of supplies to create something fun and meaningful.
I chose a piece of muslin fabric as my substrate. It's thin and takes paint and ink well. I cut the fabric into greeting card size 5 1/4" x 4". I used this size because I felt it fit well with the stamp and I wasn't sure in the beginning how I would use the finished piece. This size provided versatility if I decided on a greeting card.
I stamped Freida, from 100ProofPress, on the muslin using my stamp platform. This is a handy tool especially for stamping on fabric. By using this tool, I could re-stamp several times to get a dark image and a perfectly aligned image as well.
I drew Freida's shoulders and then painted her hair and dress using acrylic paints and my posca paint pens. I stamped the word "muse" on Freida's dress, using the Rubbermoon stamp. That's how I think of her, as my muse. She has quite a life story!
Next came the background. For this I used the Mini Tiles Artfoamie and distressed ink. I made a mask of Freida, including her shoulders, so she would be in the foreground once I laid down the background. As I used the mask, the Artfoamie stamped over my mask and created a really cool effect on the mask. I will definitely keep it for some other card or collage for the future . I love it when those little surprises show up when you are working, and there again, inspiration comes for another project.
Once the background was laid down, I took the piece to my typewriter and typed the quote making sure to space out the words so they flowed and didn't run into the image. You could easily write words or use stamped words if a typewriter isn't available to you.
The final touch was to add a few birds to the piece. I used the Flock Mixed Media Chip and a Moonlight Duo Ink pad in Eclipse Black from Rubbermoon. These birds symbolize the free flowing nature of life and serve to further enhance the composition of the piece.
I didn't start this piece with any purpose in mind. When it was finished, I came up with several ways to use it. The one I chose, for ease, was attaching it to a greeting card. I like the idea of staples. It's organic and no fuss, but it could have been sewn onto the card, or applied with Matte Medium.
As for other uses, it could be sewn to a pair of jeans or t-shirt, (if you needed to wash it you should probably use GAC900 mixed in your acrylic paint); it could be stretched over an art bite and used as a small picture of sorts; it could be sewn to a gift bag, or used as a topper for a gift. I'm sure you can think of lots of other uses.
I hope you have enjoyed this project, learned a little about what inspires me, and that it served as a jumping off point for your own inspiration.
What inspires you? Leave me a comment and let me know.
Supplies used:
Muslin Fabric
Acrylic Paint (I used Amsterdam)
Posca Paint Pens
Moonlight Duo Tint and Hue Ink Pad - Total Eclipse Black and White
100ProofPress Stamp - Freida Kahlo 6428
Rubbermoon Planet Earth Mixed Media Chip by Kae Pae - Flock PE104KP
Artfoamie - Natalie Kalbach - Mini Tiles Foam Stamp (set of 3)
Detail paint brush
#10 Paint brush
Refurbished Olympia Typewriter
Stamp Platform
Distressed Ink - Wild Honey
Makeup pad (for blotting on the birds)