Venus On Fire

Eureka ~~ Venus, of my soul, has been discovered!  I'm in LoVe with her, ;), and I believe she's complete...once I beeswax her.  The letters and "flourishes" are from one of Marah Johnson's Rub-On sets, and they seemed to be made for this piece!  I completed the flames two nites ago, and last nite I was pondering, "what else does she need to complete her?"  My first thought was, "Suzi would tell me to drip some paint on her face, or blend her with the background, and that just doesn't feel like what she needs, to me.  Then, I had a "Duh!" moment as the idea hit me to get out Marah's Love Struck Rub-Ons and see how I could incorporate them into her!  I waited until this morning to do so, and, Viola, they worked together like bread and butta'.  Best part of this discovery, from my own perspective, is that these Rub-Ons came to me directly from Ms. Marah herself [big smile]!  So, to me, it feels like I truly have a piece of Marah in this work of art ~~ LoVe me some MARAH (you can find her in my blog roll/listings!)!  It feels so good to complete a work of art, and feel like I have created something that others can appreciate...almost as much as I do.  My heart is shining today with happiness, contentment, and joy, and my hope is that your heart smiles, also, when you view Venus!

Question for you ~~ on this piece, as well as all of my "face" pieces, I learned to draw faces from The Ms. Suzi Blu (also in my blog list!), and thus use her method of drawing my face in an artist's sketchbook, using Prisma colored pencils to shade it, cut it out, and use Matte Medium to attach the face to my background/board.  Thus the face has a "raised edge" that bothers me, but blends in nicely once I've beeswaxed the finished piece.  However, I would LOVE to find another medium to use, instead of beeswax, to accomplish this blending and finishing of the piece.  I haven't experimented with any other mediums to finish a "face piece of art," but would love to hear from others whom have had success with other products!  I hope to eventually build my courage, and paint my faces directly on my substrate, but currently I have the best success with the colored pencils for shading a face, and don't think I'm "there yet," as far as being able to paint a face directly on my piece.  And, while I love using beeswax, I do noticed it can be effected by light, and needs to be "polished" frequently; thus my desire to find another medium to use.  (For example, I had a piece of artwork that had been beeswaxed and displayed at work, on a table under a lamp, and the heat from the lamp lighting seemed to "melt" and dull the wax quickly, :( ~~ not a good thing!  I would not be happy to give, or sell, as piece to someone and have this happen.)  So, if you have had success with another medium to finish such a piece, PLEASE SHARE YOUR TIPS!

K, I've been sick (with various ailments), for the last 4+ weeks, and haven't done one snippet of housework in weeks, except for laundry, cleaning toilets, physically gathering up the shedding dog hair that collects on the hardwoods, and keeping the clutter picked up.  I'm feeling better after Ms. Venus' completion, so I better use the rest of today to get some vacuuming and dusting done!  I could most definitely stand to do some weeding in my garden, but my sinuses are telling me that they are not ready for that just yet, ;).  I've determined that I do NOT make a good patient, and do NOT like being sick ~~ both require following "rules" (in taking medications, resting), and otherwise keep a spirit down.  So my heart goes out to all whom are sick, temporarily or chronically, as I see how tough it is to keep going when your body says "stop!"  It takes great strength, determination and persistence that tires a body even more than the illness itself many times.  My hat's off to anyone suffering from an illness, however small or large, temporarily or permanent.  I hope that you find strength to carry you through the day.

Lastly, I give a HUGE shout out to "my mentor and inspirer" ~~ MARAH JOHNSON!!!!  In my humble opinion, she RoCkS CrYsTaLiZeD StOnEs, and inspires me beyond belief!!!!  It is my hope that each of you have someone whom inspires you, and "fires your engine" like Marah does me, <3!  K, so Tim Holtz holds a close second place for me, but I do not have the "personal" connection with Tim that I do with Marah.  She has overcome such odds, and PREVAILED, and I connect with that on such a personal level, and feel that I am following in her footsteps, in a small way, today by having the courage to move forward, leave the past behind, grow, accept my talents, and attempt to share them with others, if even in a small way.  May we all have courage today!  Big Hugs To All ~~ Jeanne