Alyice on February 18th, 2008

For Keifer

Keifer is a 15 year old boy with multiple handicaps, one of them being that he must see everything close up. He watches DVDs on a small player that he holds in his hands as he pushes his face close to the screen so when I began work on his canvas, I had to keep that in mind. For Keifer, less was definitely more.

When his beloved Lady Beasley died last year, it was heartbreaking for the entire family, but even more so for Keifer. She was more than his pet; she was his companion and best friend.

When I began creating this collage, I had every intention of doing it as a mixed media abstract painting, but after painting the background an entirely new story came to life. I could just envision Keifer sitting under a tree with Lady Beasley by his side. And so, the story unfolds…

You can’t tell by the way I took this photo, but the photos of Lady Beasley and Keifer are three dimensional. I made several copies of the same photo, then layered them with raisers. Once I painted the tree, I used Diamond Glaze to hold the beads in place and then placed a few drops of alcohol ink over the beads. I sealed the entire canvas with decoupage paste.

Keep Creating

P.S.

Keifer loved his canvas. Keifer has this gorgeous smile that lights up the entire room and I was honored to be the recipient of such a smile last night!

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Comments (3)

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Tina L. Miller says:
Wow! That is SO cool! It is such a great feeling to do something for someone that is so meaningful to them. Not long ago I did some photos of a boy and his dog. They were actually his senior portraits, and he loved them. About a week ago the mom contacted me to see if they could get more of those portraits. The dog had passed away unexpectedly. I was so blessed to be able to assure her that yes, they could always get more copies of the portraits of her son and his beloved dog. It also makes me want to run out and tell everyone: “Have your portraits taken TODAY! Life is short! Don’t wait until it’s too late.” Portraits and pictures — they are something that we will always treasure!
Posted at 8:39 pm February 19th, 2008
Tanya T. Warrington says:
Great job with a challenging project. I really like your creative use of 3D dimension, size, and texture. What a wonderful creation to touch the heart of someone with special needs.
Posted at 11:25 pm February 19th, 2008
Alyice says:
Thanks gals. I truly appreciate the encouragement.
Posted at 12:05 am February 20th, 2008