Does Your Art SpEaK to You?

Do you notice the exact moment your art speaks to you? This is the first glamour girl of a collection for some upcoming art shows this fall. I am doing Chateau de Fleuers in Sept. and Glitterfest in Oct. Both shows have a vintage glam feel to them and called for a different feel to some new pieces. Last weekend I was given some paper from a student in a class I was teaching in Claremont. One of the great things about teaching classes is people are always giving me amazing paper scraps. You can read more about this class at http://www.coutureovercoffee.blogspot.com/ This is Beth Livesays blog who is an editor at Stampington Magazines. She was in the class and as exciting as that was, I was nervous! She was a lot of fun and I had a great time with her. She is filled with so much talent! Anyway, I was given this paper that was pink and a sort of mustard paisley on a gray background. Not colors I would normally choose but I found something striking about it. I found other paper to compliment it and set out designing my glam girl. I painted the background gray (I have never done that!) I tore lots of different papers into thin strips and adhered them to my canvas with Modpodge. I felt the background was too bold so I paainted a very light wash of white across the entire piece. Wanting more white in the background, I turned to one of my favorite techniques...printing with bubble wrap. Once satisfied with the background, I set out to make the girl. I wanted her old Hollywood glamorous. She's wearing a draped, I'm sure it's the finest silk top, bearing a lot of back! Her skirt is flowing to her ankles just ready to move into a waltz with the most handsome man in the room. It was about this time that this piece started speaking to me. She was not old Hollywood at all. She wasn't even American! She was decidedly French. It was like she whispered it in my ear! So French she was. It was then I thought she needed a chandelier in the background and jet black hair with a touch of gold highlights. I'm thinking I like doing glamour girls...at least this week!