Alyice on May 10th, 2008

Southwestern Canvas

After a week of trying to take a good photo of this canvas I’ve decided to give up and just post it. One day I will master the art of photographing paintings but for now I’ve decided posting something is better than not posting anything at all. So here you have it…

This canvas was made for my brother-in-law, Frank. He’s the gypsy of the family and absolutely loves the great outdoors. In fact, his wedding was held in a ghost town in Arizona, complete with western attire from the 1900’s and a gun fight—right in the middle of the ceremony. You see, an outlaw decided to tell the minister that the couple didn’t have the right to get married so the sheriff shot him dead. Of course it was all for show—the guy got up after the ceremony ended, unharmed.

Originally I wanted the photo in the middle to have burnt edges and appear much older than it currently looks but I couldn’t get what I had in my head to come out in my art so I settled on something else. The triangles that border the frame are pieces of paper that I painted, cut up, and placed inside the wet plaster. After the plaster dried for two days I went back and painted the plaster, being careful not to paint over the painted triangles. I then painted the middle, added the images, and sealed the canvas with five coats of semi-gloss varnish.

You’ll probably see more of this photo in the future as it’s the family’s favorite photo of their mom—and mine, too. We like to refer to this photo as “The Real Snow White”.

If you like this style of combining photos with art and objects, drop me an email or visit my online shop at AlyiceEdrich.net. I’d love to custom create something for you!