A self-portrait and some Harlee-Quinnz

the new Bad Girls Project 52 challenge came out this week - do a self-portrait using paper mache and a found object. The DT examples were interesting (some great, some not so great) and 2 of them used the idea of body forms (sort of like my HERO canvas) so I decided to do a silhouette - like a cameo out of paper mache. It was very very messy (the glue container actually exploded - fortunately it was facing away from me and I had the table covered with waste paper but I must be the messiest artist ever! It took forever to wash all of the paper mache off of my hands) and fairly complicated to get the facial details to work out but I am moderately happy with the result. (See photos below this text - the above photo is explained later down in the text) the found object is the base - a plastic plate that I brought home from work - it had had cookies on it from a grocery store. I layered 3 layers of tissue papers onto the plate and then layered 4 chipboard silhouettes in varying sizes onto that, then I tore old dictionary pages and tissue paper into strips and paper mached them onto the chipboard, sculpting as I went, let it dry, then laid a paper silhouette over it and sprayed with coffee glimmer mist (my fav and almost out) around it, blotting with paper towels. finally I put a thin layer of gesso over the silhouette. I added a lace collar that I had cut off of an old old Laura Ashley dress (can you believe I used to live in Laura Ashley clothes in the 1990s?), sprayed it with stiffen quick, and adhered it to the plate. finally I attached a vintage glass necklace to the back to add interest at the bottom and a holder at the top.
I have always loved silhouettes - the above layout I did a couple of years ago and used a silhouette that my mother had done of me when I was small. (Also notice the Laura Ashley ribbon.) My mother loved cameos, and I inherited 3 absolutely beautiful ones from her. When I worked as an accountant and had to dress "appropriately" for the job, I used to wear all 3 at one time on my jacket lapel - that always got compliments!

The next 2 layouts are ones done with Harlee-Quinnz Designs papers - the purple is from the Butterfly Garden collection and the cool paper with the blue and white pitcher is from the Scents Remember collection. This year has been a bumper crop for Pears, which I love!!!! they are so plentiful, inexpensive, and so delicious. I love to just eat them or make pear/walnut/blue cheese salads with viniagrette. YUM!

For the Purple layout, I used a Prima flower, some flowers from Michaels, a yo yo made from Liberty fabric, an old button card, some funky see through netting, a piece of paper stamped with a Harlee-quinnz mandala stamp, a dictionary page, a jewelry pendant from Michaels, a tea ad, some ribbons, and a little dollsize belt buckle. I took the photo last summer at the Biltmore in North Carolina.

For the Pears layout, I used a wallpaper sample from Anthropologie, vintage lace, Starbucks card, doily, Prima flowers, handmade silk ribbon flower with beads, old MM letters, old Lil Davis letters, and a tag from a jewelry pendant (see Purple layout) from Michaels.

I am off to work - got lots to do today.

ttfn