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A Canvas For Jenna

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 by Alyice

Yesterday I began work on a new canvas and you won’t believe what I did. Well, maybe you will. I forgot I had paint on a brush from another project I was working on and I saw an area that needed a little more color so I grabbed the paint brush, dabbed it into some paint, and commenced to “touch up” the area. Well, let’s just say I made a mess! The color turned into an UGLY-Y-Y (did I say ugly?) mud color, right there on my otherwise beautiful canvas!

I could have slapped myself silly. I literally had to walk away. I had these gorgeous, vibrant, translucent colors of blue, purple, and green—quite dreamy if I might say so myself. And now I had to do something to make it all balance out and of course, that would mean saying good-bye to the entire vision I had in my head. (Luckily it was my vision and not my client’s or I would have had to start over from scratch.)

I pulled out a darker purple and a darker blue and began fixing the damage I had done when I once again discovered that mistakes are fixable.

Copyright 2008, Alyice Edrich
Image © Alyice Edrich, 2008
FYI: Forgive if photo is fuzzy, still dealing with eye issue from Bell’s Palsy.

When I showed my now 13 year old daughter the completed piece she said, “Mom, I actually like this better than the original. It’s much more interesting. And because the colors are darker you have to really stare at it to see the details and find things. I like that.” And by finding things, she meant the hidden butterflies.

Now here’s hoping Jenna, from California, will like it, too! Of course, she won’t find out until Christmas because it’s an early Christmas present—which reminds me….It’s never too early to Christmas shop!

Keep Creating

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The Altered Bottle

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 by Alyice

Remember when I told you that I made a gorgeous vase for my 13 year old daughter from an old root beer bottle that she saved? Well, I know I promised a nicer shot, as per a colleague’s request, but my right eye (the picture taking eye) is so fuzzy from the Bell’s Palsy that I just can’t seem to do it justice. Plus, I still can’t get the lighting right in the livingroom–where it has currently found a home–and I don’t own studio lights for photography, yet.

So…I’m just going to show you what I did, okay?

I can’t tell you how much I L-O-V-E this vase and I can’t wait to find more bottles like this (or drink more sodas) so that we can make more.

What do you think? I’m thinking it might even look better without the hearts, but I like them. And it was a Valentine’s gift so they were appropriate at the time.

Keep Creating

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For Keifer

Monday, February 18th, 2008 by Alyice

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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