Grown-Up Crayon Melting

I can't take full credit for this project so I'll start off by explaining my inspiration. Yesterday I was at my favorite kid's art studio when a new piece caught my eye. Betsy, owner and teacher of Arts Aloft explained to me how she made the striking image with a box of crayons and a heat gun. As some of you may know, I'm a sucker for cheap art supplies almost as much as I'm a sucker for color. In terms of the background color and crayons I chose, I was influenced by the Gauguin exhibit I recently saw. I love visiting art galleries and seeing big and unknown names alike. I didn't really know what I was going to when I secured my ticket to Gauguin with my student membership. I can honestly say I have never been more moved by an art exhibit before. The colors were breathtaking and the story of his love for Polynesia is in line with my love for the Dominican Republic. If you've ever felt more at home in a foreign place (specifically poor, complex, and in stark contrast to your home country), you should research Gauguin's story. I ended up having an hour long heart-to-heart conversation with a security guard afterwards, I was so emotionally drained from the exhibit. Enough about all that, really what I'm trying to say is that his work inspired my color choices.

Betsy's Work of ART

Gauguin's Tahitian Woman

I first misted the top half with water, then brushed on a minty aqua acrylic. I went over the paint with my fingers because I didn't want any brush strokes. I then misted over it again to give it white splotches and to fade and feather the line where the paint meets the blank canvas. Then I let it dry.

After picking out my crayons, measuring the total width, and marking it on my canvas with pencil, I began gluing the crayons down with a hot glue gun.

Lastly, I warmed up my heat gun (which I usually use for heat embossing but I must admit, melting hot wax is way more fun) and heated the ends of the crayons. Because it's wax, the melting crayons drip slowly enough to have a bit of control over the outcome.

Frame-less Photo Wall

When I first moved into my apartment, I started taping my favorite memories to one of the walls. Photos, ticket stubs, unframed art work, handwritten notes, even business cards. I had almost covered the entire wall. I thought it looked cool for a while until I realized it was so unorganized it made my whole apartment seem messy. This is an important thing to remember in small abodes - if one part of the room is distracting [in a negative way], it will affect the entire space. This week I took it all down and picked out my favorite 4x6ish sized memories and hung them simply using 8 tacks, 4 pieces of string, and some clothespins.