Sunday, February 23, 2020

Inspiration Sunday

I haven't done one of these Inspiration posts in a while (maybe I haven't been all that inspired? 😕) but last week I went to an art exhibit called Exquisite Creatures, and it was fabulous!  Artist Christopher Marley works with aquariums and zoos around the world, collecting their deceased creatures, and creates art with them.  I know, sounds kinda creepy (I thought so too when I first read about it), but my husband and I decided to give it a go, and I'm SO glad we did!  It was spectacularly beautiful!  The incredible colors of insects, the unusual shapes and the way the artist put everything together was mind-blowing.

As we were getting ready to leave the exhibit, one last work caught my eye, and I had to snap a photo. The colors of this bird just struck me:


The colors of this bird were beautiful, and inspired me to come home to create something using the same colors.

Now there is no way in the world I will ever be the artist Marley is, but he inspired me to create, and this is what I made:


Do you see the inspiration?  I chose the colors to create my card:  Blueberry Bushel, Bermuda Bay and Night of Navy.  ðŸ’™


I started with a color wash on Watercolor paper.  Using an Aquapainter, I spread the three colors and blended them together.  At this point I still wasn't sure what I was creating with it, but I loved the background.

And it reminded me of the water...an ocean?  How about an undersea scene?

And that's how it began.  


My octopus, from Sea of Textures, was stamped first in Blueberry Bushel (using the Stamparatus), and then again in Versamark.  I covered it with Clear Embossing powder and heat embossed it for a shiny look.  Then cut it out with the coordinating Under the Sea dies.

From there it was a matter of creating my scene, and I had such fun pulling out colors to coordinate.


Using the Noble Peacock foil I cut the sea grass and a few of the coral pieces for the bottom of the card.  The fishnet was cut with Crumb Cake, and the coral was stamped with Flirty Flamingo and cut out.  


And the little goldfish at the top were cut with a die, using Gold Foil, and individually glued into place (yeah, I know, painstaking, but definitely worth the effort 😊).

Inspiration is everywhere; take a moment to look at something and then recreate it.  What a great way to spread the love of art!  

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4 comments:

Sue Heekin said...

WOW!!!! Such a beautiful creation...

Heather Lamb said...

That's beautiful! What a great work of art. Thanks for sharing. P.S. You have some patience...those fish. well done!

Priscilla Ivler said...

Sue, I wish you could have seen the art exhibit. I know you would have loved it. Thanks for your comment!

Priscilla Ivler said...

Thanks, Heather...and yes...those fish...