A little art therapy during tough times

I created this piece as a little art therapy for myself. Titled "False Advertising", it is how I am feeling right now, especially on social media, where I am trying to appear upbeat, but inside am feeling a little bleak.

To make this, I began by gluing the box part of the Sunflower Niche and letting dry.

I then covered the Sunflower Niche, first with gesso, and then with yellow acrylic paint.

I then painted orange on top of the flower, placed a stencil over the paint and removed paint using a baby wipe. I completed this process by working on only a couple petals at a time, drying them with a heat gun after using the baby wipe. Otherwise, the orange paint would dry too much and become too difficult to remove. You can see in the picture below one of the petals where I still need to remove the paint with a stencil and baby wipe.

Because the stencil would not fit easily into the niche, I used a pen to freehand draw similar markings. 

Next I used the same stencil to apply different colors of non-translucent acylic paint to sections of the flower. I also used remaining paint on the stencil as a stamp on the flower and freehand added my own marks to the flower.

I then adhered the box to the sunflower and covered a paper clay moon I had previously made with silver metallic wax. Then I painted the moon with black acrylic paint and used a paper towel to rub some of it off and reveal the silver below. 

After adhering the moon inside the box, I made marks with a black gel pen to reflect a foul mood. Next I covered a piece of white cardstock with yellow paint, added my title, cut it out and adhered it to the box. Finally, I completed the box by inking the edges of the flower with black distress ink.

I hope everyone stays healthy and makes a lot of art while you shelter in place during this pandemic. Remember, this too shall pass. -Betsy

Great Stuff

Sunflower Niche
Beacon Fabri-Tac
Stencil Girl stencil
Acrylic paint
Orange marker
Black gel pen
Gesso
White cardstock
Paper clay moon made from mold
Black Soot Distress Ink
Silver metalic wax