Monday 14 March 2016

All The World's a Stage - Reversed Canvas by Julie Ann

Hello, Julie Ann here of Magpieheaven . I could hardly contain my excitement when ZuZu of Calico Craft Parts Design Team asked me to guest design with a couple of projects for March while the talented Alison Bomber is travelling and working in distant lands! So many of Calico's beautifully crafted shapes fired my imagination it was difficult making a choice. Finally I grabbed a 5" x 5", chunky box canvas, and Calico Craft Parts took centre stage in one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, The Tempest which happens to include sea discoveries and a distant magical isle!
By simply turning around the box canvas so that we're faced with what looks like a little niche, we have the basis for a miniature theatre. If you're doing this, don't forget that the reverse side of the canvas has not been primed, so you will have to give it a generous couple of coats of Gesso.
These chunky canvases have plenty of space for decorating around the edges so I had fun collaging with tissue text, stamping and using diluted blue acrylic spray.
Some lace from my stash added a nicely theatrical touch when I fixed it to the canvas with Heavy Gel Medium...
Torn, coloured tissue fixed to the back of the canvas with Matte Medium and then painted over with acrylic glazes in blues and greens provided a hint of countries waiting to be discovered.
Once I had added some dimension with plaster wrap, cut into strips, moistened with warm water; fixed to the frame of my project and left to dry and harden over night, it was time for the drama to begin with Calico Craft Parts. For my focal image, I chose
The small size fitted perfectly inside the niche and you might be able to see that I brought it forward just a tad by sticking it to a small block of MDF, which I cut out myself. I started to play with positioning different Calico craft parts around my frame: 2 Greyboard Hearts and 2 MDF butterflies from the Style 4 sheet. There's a crown - Mini MDF Wood Crowns, Style 3 to symbolise Prospero's earthly status as Duke of Milan, usurped from him by his conspiring brother Antonio in league with the King of Naples, Alonso. There's also a little gold crackle making an appearance at the edges.
Now for the enchantment that colour and gilding wax can work with Calico Craft Parts! When I painted the MDF block and added some map tissue it blended into the background, and the 'Brave Vessel' is now highlighted by a blend of opaque acrylics with translucent shading and brown stamping to symbolise the script of the play. Part of a curly vine flourish, Style 1 is echoed in the billows around the frame. Can you see a tiny wren from the Sheet, Mini Garden Birds has perched on the curtain to watch the storm-tossed ship?
A wisp of cheesecloth fixed to the background with Matte Medium creates the impression of cloudy skies.
With the addition of Crackle and hand-painted features, the Greyboard hearts become the masks of Tragedy and Comedy and you might notice that I snapped off a couple of leaves from the vine flourish to crown them. I embellished the crown at the centre with gold embossing and tiny pearl accents. You might notice the butterflies now have lace stamping on their wings and tiny antennae made from flower centres.
More tissue fixed to the sides of the niche suggests the kind of exotic birds the travellers might have encountered...
 I like the way that the box canvas seems to invite us to explore it from every angle.
Thank You so much for visiting my miniature theatre and I hope you enjoyed the show! Thanks to Calico Craft Parts for their generosity in giving me this opportunity to play. This is just the opening scene of The Tempest. I wonder what adventures await the mariners when they find themselves on Propero's magic isle? You might like to create a miniature theatrical scene yourself! There are so many inspiring and imaginative shapes at Calico Craft Parts here there's a whole world of theatrical possibilities to explore!

31 comments:

  1. This is incredible, Julie Ann, so evocative of the sea with the galleon riding on the waves. I love the map behind it and all the little details you have added,

    Lucy x

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    1. Thank You so much Lucy for your lovely comment.

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  2. what a gorgeous canvas, Julie Ann - and as always you have a wonderful story to tell along the way!

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  3. Love this! You really managed to capture the drama and magic of "The Tempest" in your chunky canvas miniature theatre! Love those cheesecloth clouds too! ;)
    Claudia xx

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    1. Thank You, Claudia! Your comment made my day! xx

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  4. A fabulous creation. Such drama! Lx

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  5. Wonderful drama and attention to detail Julie Ann! Congratulations on being guest designer...excellent choice! Fabulous textures and so much life! Love it! X

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    1. Many thanks, Hazel. I thoroughly enjoyed being a GD!

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  6. Absolutely wonderful Julie Ann and reading your post was just that too as you have brought the play alive in telling how you created this lovely imaginative piece.

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

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    1. Thank You so much, Lesley. It was so much fun!

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    1. Thank you, Shilpa. It was such fun to make!

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  8. Julie this is positively incredible, wow, what an amazing reverse canvas!! Like you I love the Tempest, -it being the great bard's last play, it has always held a special kind of magic for me, magic that you have just captured perfectly with this creative mini theatre. Stunning and imaginative work with the craft parts, what you did with those hearts is pure genius. I love this BIG TIME!

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    1. Thank You so much, Astrid. I'm so glad you like it.

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  9. Wow! This really is amazing! I love how you have represented The Tempest (my favourite too) with all of your fabulous details!Love how more of your fabulous faces appear as the masks! Hugs, Chrisx

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    1. I'm discovering that The Tempest is loved by many now! It was certainly lots of fun to create a little theatre to celebrate here. I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity. Thank You, Chris for stopping by. xx

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  10. What a enchanting canvas and story, congratulations Julie Ann!! This mini theater is very dramatic and beautiful a scene. xxx

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    1. Thank you so much, Etsuko, for a lovely comment. xx

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  11. Julie Ann, what a most fabulous piece! The sea scape is dreamy and magical and you have truly made regular materials into a gorgeous and imaginative theater! Bravo my dear friend!! xo

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    1. Thank You so much, Jackie. It was so much fun to work with these beautiful wood shapes. xx

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  12. Wow!!! I adore your frame, amazing work Julie!!! Your hand-painted faces featuring the masks of Tragedy and Comedy are so brilliant and beautiful, as well as so many other elements and details here and there, inside and outside... Fabulous. What a treat!!! Hugs, Coco Xx

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    1. Thank You so much, Coco. I had a great time making my little theatre. xx

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  13. A wonderful piece of Art. So much to see and made with lot of fantasy. I like the nice heart faces. Great design!
    Dear greetings
    Sabine

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    1. Thank you so much, Sabine. I'm so glad you like the little theatre. xx

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  14. this is SUCH genius! i adore every bit of this, especially your drama/comedy/heart faces. i also love the Tempest -- i think it is tied for 1st place with Midsummer Night's Dream! thanks for sharing. xo

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    1. I love Midsummer Night's Dream too Michele. If I had to choose one favourite Shakespeare play to take to a desert island, I'd find it hard to choose, actually! Thank You so much for stopping by. xx

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  15. This is gorgeous, wonderful and so magical. Love the look of it, I bet it has gorgeous texture, wonderful colours and the ship is just brilliant! Thank you for sharing the step by step too - something for me to think about and try Karen x

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  16. I hope you will have a go at something like this, Karen. :) xx

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  17. Absolutely magical, Julie Ann - stunning work with the Craft Parts and another glorious storytelling piece, with Shakespeare into the bargain. Fabulous!
    Alison x

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