How much do I love thee?

The Lovely Sonia, Crafty Scrapper DT Member, is featured today on the blog. One thing I love about Sonia and I feel makes her pieces so unique, is she pours her heart and soul in her work. There is always a story and you feel it, and you get to know Sonia a little bit more. Thank you Sonia for this amazing piece and story!

We are also doing a Valentines giveaway, we will be giving this Lovely kit away from Authentique. We will pick a winner this Friday, to win you must be a registered follower on our blog.

 

Leave a comment and answer this question...

 

How do you interpret this piece??

 

Valentine's Day --overpriced dinners, overpriced chocolates, overpriced flowers, overpriced champagne...what's not to love about it?! I think the best part of VD is making actual Valentine's Day cards and gifts for friends/loved ones. As you know by now, I like to explore my emotions and pour them into my work. So when I received a box of goodies from The Crafty Scrapper for my next Design Team project, I knew exactly what I wanted to convey.

You see, love is a beautiful and a torturous thing. It's simple, it's complicated, it's raw, it's tender, it's magical, it stings, it heals and it wounds. Love is a whole lot of things. Ultimately, we are all love, aren't we? But what about the love for another human being? Does it get anymore scary and complex and exhilarating than that? Some days you feel like you have conquered and on others you are downright defeated. I like to linger in between, loving fiercely, never missing an opportunity to tell someone how they impact me whether it's good or bad --although the bad isn't typically well received. They say that some things are better left unsaid. I tried that for a while but this girl wears her heart on her sleeve!

"Shaken by the violence to exist only for you..." That's my message in my latest Design Team project. It was inspired by one of my favorite artists but I won't mention who because then you will figure this whole thing out and that's no fun. It's my belief that there is no one right answer to deciphering art. It's all perspective. I want you to see what you want to see, I want your heart to feel what it feels without hesitation. A lot of times I will just spell things out for people and tell them exactly what I was trying to accomplish in my project while leaving little to virtually no room at all for them to further dissect it. But here we are "shaken by the violence to exist only for you..." Could it be that someone is so tortured in loving someone else, that they are kicking and screaming and fighting the good fight to hold on to something unhealthy, something beautiful, something traumatic, yet something that completes them? Or does it make a statement about loving someone so deeply --"look at me, I would rip my heart out for you and bleed for you and die for you...because I love you THAT much!" Hmmmm...it is what you want it to be. What it means to me is a secret. Shhhhh. I'll just leave you guessing. So here is my 6x6 canvas...on display now at The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, Texas!

 

 

I wrapped the entire canvas in "Composer" tissue wrap. I really wish I had grunged it up with distress inks and crackle before piecing it all together, but I didn't think about that till it was all done. It was just "too white" for my liking.

About this lovely heart, which I consider to be the focal point of the canvas: I used a scalloped heart shaped tin by Maya Road and pressed red polymer clay into it. I then popped it in the oven and baked it for about 15 minutes. The very first photo at the start of this post illustrates what the tin and the heart looks like just out of the oven. I then used alcohol ink from Ranger to give it that deep blood red look. I think I used the color Raisin which is actually more of a purple tone. My next step was taking wire that I found in my husband's tool box and I just wrapped it around the heart with no rhyme or reason. Then I added the wind-up piece which is from the Tim Holtz Ideaology line. I had to rig it a little with a tootpick because the anchor wasn't long enough to fit all the way through the heart. But I was determined to make it work!

 

About the doll: The doll is by the lovely Lisa Pace. I just adore her and she is always so encouraging with me. She made a lot of doll pieces and they are all white. Again I used alcohol inks...Butterscotch and Gold, primarily. Then I cut the heart off of a Maya Road pin and glued it to the doll. Then I let Raisin alcohol ink drip directly over the heart.

::exhale:: What a powerful piece. This heart alone is a piece of art. Just look at all of the symbolism. Wind me up, imprison me, break my heart, prisoner of your love...so many ways to interpret. How do you interpret this piece??

The first question out of everyone's mouth was "How did you transfer your photo onto the canvas?" Well, I didn't. I printed my photo on a piece of vellum paper. I then used a thin layer of Diamond Glaze to adhere it right onto the tissue. I actually mounted the tissue on cardstock AND THEN adhered the vellum to it and then I stuck in the fattest book I could find and maybe I also stood on top of the book. I wanted the tightest seal possible. It worked out pretty awesome!

 

I hope you enjoyed this piece --I have already started working on the next one in my head! Eeeeeeek! So much fun.

 

Peace, love, and art for the heart

Sonia