Giving New Life to an Old Guitar

My dear friends and neighbors

will sometimes give me things

they think I may like to paint. 

This old broken down

guitar is an example of one 

of those things. 

It's been sitting in the corner

of my art room for  a couple

of years waiting to be brought

back to life. 

I had a design percolating 

in my mind, now it was a matter

of putting it all together. 

The same friend that gave me the guitar, 

also gave me the cool wooden heart she'd

designed and had her husband cut out for her. 

I designed a pattern for wings and the "Love"

sign, and my husband cut them out for me

on the scroll saw. 

I strung beads where the tuning keys

would've been.

I used my wood carving tools to 

give the "Love" sign a little dimension. 

I also decided to change the plain heart 

into a flaming heart. 

My husband made

sure every piece was secured

properly with a combination of 

liquid nails and nails or screws. 

Here's another view from the front. 

I'm pleased with the way it 

turned out. 

It was so much fun to create. 

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead! 

Thank you for stopping by. 

Terri

Mini Mixed Media

This was a little diversion

piece I made while taking

a break from a larger piece

I was working on. 

I've found for myself, it's good

for me to have a few things I'm working

on at once. 

This way my mind and brain 

is refreshed by something new,

without having to stop creating art

(which would be so sad). 

I finger painted the background of an ATC card. 

While that was drying, I drew my subject with 

colored pencils on a piece of Bristol paper. 

She was brushed with a light coating of matte

medium and then allowed to dry before

collaging her to the card. 

I added some designs with pitt pens and 

a few cross stitches with some bright DMC thread. 

I like her "milky' appearance, and it's kind of making

me want to go in the direction of a geisha. 

She almost has that look about her. 

*****

Thank you for visiting!

Hearts, Flowers, and Cross Shrine

This was such a fun project to make.

Just looking at the picture inspires

me to want to make more of them. 

(In case you missed my other shrine posts

you may see them here and here.)

Everything was handmade from the

paper mache shrine box, to the 2 kinds 

of clay that I used. 

One was cold porcelain clay,

and the other one had a flour and glue base. 

For the candle wicks I

stripped a twist tie of it's paper

and used that to suspend the flames.

The cross, leaves, flowers, and candles

are made from the cold porcelain clay. 

The top center heart was made from the 

flour and glue based clay.

It was a little harder to shape

into specific designs, but it was

good for building up dimension. 

I also used some puff paint to add

some texture. It worked great. I was

a little unsure because I think it's mainly

used for fabrics. 

Now here's a behind the scenes

look at what usually goes

on when I'm trying to take a picture

of my work outside. 

"Maybelline! Move your head!"

She's always at the ready

to lend a helping hand paw. 

She loves being the center

of attention, so I thought

I'd give her that honor today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Terri

Painting Doors

I love painting doors! 

This is a door my dear friend 

Dede asked me to paint for her. 

One side is more Mexican

folk art inspired, and the

other side is Aztec design inspired. 

The whole door took me about 

a month to complete, and I had

to commandeer our kitchen table

as my work space. 

To prepare for the project, I draped the table with 

an old cloth and laid some wooden boxes down 

for risers to elevate the door off the table. 

I used my office chair on wheels 

to maneuver around as I painted.

It worked great! 

The only downside was that we couldn't

have company for a month,

which is hard for me to do. 

I'd love to paint our

front door in a Mexican

folk art style!

I'm not quite sure my husband

would be on board with that one though. 

It can be tough at times for a color

loving gal being married to a beige loving husband. 

Fortunately, it's a small price to pay all in all. 

Thanks for visiting!

Terri

Sugar Skull Dog House

I recently finished painting another folk art 

dog house that my husband built. 

In case you missed the first one, you may

see it here. 

This time I started with a lighter background. 

Pink is my favorite color right

now, so I try to incorporate it whenever I can. 

I may eventually go in an add

some more detail to it, but for now it's finished.

I love Mexican and Southwest

inspired designs as you can see. 

I made sure to use all exterior house

paints. 

Every time my husband and I are at 

Home Depot, I'm always checking the "oops shelf"

in the paint department. 

Now all it needs is a little Chihuahua

and we'll be all set. 

Thank you for visiting! 

Terri