My Bleeding Heart Fairy – Done!

I can imagine my sweet fairy hovering under the tender leaf of a Bleeding Heart as its flowers unfold in the Spring warmth:

I have enjoyed reading your comments as I progressed on my collage.  It is nice to know that we can ALL allow our imaginations to create wonderful stories on our canvas, sketchbook or wherever we create our art!

I wanted to show you my beginning piece next to my completed one:

Be sure to keep your eyes open for a tiny fairy in you garden or a walk in the woods!  You never know where one will turn up next!

Cheers!  🙂

A Garden Fairy

As I continued working on my collage that I started two days ago, a sweet garden fairy has started to flutter to life on my canvas.  I am reminded of the fairies of one of my favorite artists, Cicely Mary Barker – be sure to look at her fairies on Pinterest if you aren’t familiar with her art!

Today, I painted the background with Golden Fluid acrylics in Titan Buff as this creates a cohesiveness to my background.

I added Liquitex Basics acrylic paint in Raw Umber.  I water down the paint and add it in layers, removing much of the paint with an old rag until I’m satisfied with the appearance.  I like how this ages my piece.

I will be adding the finishing touches soon and plan to post my completed collage on Tuesday, Feb 9th.

Monday is Draw A Bird Day, hosted by Nina and Kerfe at Method Two Madness – so I will be creating a bird to join in the WP fun!  Why not join in the fun yourself?!

Flower Fairy Trivia:  Cicely Mary Barker used real children as her models for the Fairies and her flower pictures are botanically accurate.

Enjoy your Sunday!  🙂

Bleeding Heart

I decided to add the Bleeding Heart plant to my collage that I started yesterday.

I researched the flower on the Internet to get a feel for the shape of its flower and leaves.  I then sketched my layout in pencil.

I glued my Gelli-printed papers that I did on deli paper to my collage. The papers have a nice transparentcy to them which I like.

Flower Trivia:  According to the Internet – The bleeding heart plant has been grown for centuries in China and Korea as well as in Japan. In 1740, a German botanist, J. G. Gmelin, first brought a living plant to Russia for a botanical garden where he worked. The Royal Horticulture Society brought the plant to Western Europe through the work of Robert Fortune in 1847.  The plant traveled to America as a gift for Valentine’s Day because of the heart shape of the blossoms. While the preference of bleeding heart plants for the garden waned in Europe, it became a popular garden perennial here.

Next, I will add acrylic paint to my collage.  I like to use Golden Fluid Acrylics. So I hope you check in tomorrow for the next step!

Happy Saturday – May you have a happy heart!  🙂