My living canvas

Last spring, I signed up for a Christy Tomlinson/Art McCracken workshop called Your Living Canvas. It’s taken me quite some time to get started on this class but I am loving it! Luckily I have till late May to finish it. Basically the class is about creating the life you want to live.



So when I decided to jump in, I realized that I didn’t have a journal to use for the art journaling portion of the class. What I did have was a pad of canvas sheets. So I took apart the entire pad. I cut one piece down to use as a spine, and folding the other sheets in half, I sewed them to the “spine”. Cutting the chipboard backing in half worked well for the front and back covers. I slathered it all in gesso and I was good to go!



I was worried that I would be the only person posting in the class Facebook group, the last little soul to participate… I was pleasantly surprised to find that I am not alone!

This first week Christy shared a technique for making embellishments out of modeling paste. I made several but my favorite was a butterfly. I had added a pinkish paint to the modeling paste. After the butterfly was dry, I went over it by spraying other colors through a stencil. I didn’t hold back and finally ended up with a fairly ugly butterfly.

I set the monstrosity aside and went to work on the front inside cover. It was looking good with a strong pattern and bold colors. And it needed a strong focal element. I glanced at that pinkish/purpleish/weirdly colored butterfly…. and whipped out some black paint! What did I have to lose, right? I also gave it a very light silver spray that settled into the crevices which added a little interest. Perfect for the page.



A butterfly is such a great symbol of growth. It surprises me that at 49 (egads, 49????) that I still have a lot of growing to do. Over the next several weeks I will continue to share layouts in My Living Canvas.

Do you do mixed media artwork?

Happy crafting!
Desiree