Laguna Teal Somerset Studios Challenge

Brother graduated from high school and there has been all kind of commotion to do with that, but we've still been busy making art and reading and re-reading Somerset Studios magazines.

 

When we saw the Laguna Teal color challenge in the back of the magazine, we thought well why not do a piece in that color since we've been channeling Monet's paintings for the Paris challenge. For that one, we used Monet's most famous Water Lily series. Monet was born in Paris. Monet also used a lot of Laguna Teal. We sorted through copies to find the one that uses the most, and we chose: Rough Sea at Etretat.

We love scouring yard sales, the Goodwill and second-hand shops for Mixed-Media treasures, and that's where we found a bunch of inexpensive prints to decoupage, copy or use in journals.

 

We glued it on a journal from Michael's craft store (We also wait for a sale or use a 40-percent off coupon to save on costs). Glues are important and we prefer The Ultimate. The Ultimate makes sure that it's stuck forever without being stuck on your skin.

 

 We buy up old leather coats and skirts and cut them into usable pieces and store them in the studio like you would fabric scraps. These painting journals takes lots of tiny strips of leather, so save all the bits in large plastic Ziplocs.

 

Now for the challenge! You know I'm up for it.

 

This piece of leather from an old coat looks like a great match. The cork of the journal mimics the sand in the painting,  so we'll let some of it peak through.

Who knew we could find leather to match - this makes the whole thing just right.

 

 

I cut and then glue down each strip of leather with corresponding colors needed on the painting. Not tough at all, just tedious. It's essentially painting with glue. I use a paintbrush for the glue, put it on the leather and then pat it down. Leather is easy to work with in this format and will stretch or shorten as you wish. Cut, strip, glue, cut strip, clue for at least an entire day, and Oui, we have our own masterpiece.

So does Mimi like it?

She thinks it's okay.

Ah, what does she know she's a genuine Grumpy Cat.

 

It turned out kind of nice with lots of textures and plenty of Laguna Teal, probably because these folks are at a lagoon.