An Eagle When She Flies....

I dedicated the song "An Eagle when she flies" by Dolly Parton to my mom at a High School Music Night eons ago and ever since that song has great meaning to my family. When push came to shove, my mother always described herself as being "eagle-like", strong & steadfast -- that through it all she'd come out on top stronger for it. I thought, with everything going on with my dad, that this was a good time to honour her - To let her know she's not alone and her strength had not gone unnoticed.

I sat down at my studio desk with some great ladies today armed with the knowledge that I was going to create a canvas entitled "An Eagle when she flies" -- this is what I came up with.

The canvas backgroung is an Image Transfer -- I transferred some Harmonie Pattern paper that I have here in the studio and totally got one of the ladies excited here... ("Pattern Paper? Really.... ? -- and then she went and tried it too! Yep! Another one hooked :) hehe.... I digress)

I then started layering paints and inks to create dimension. I used some white and metallic gold paint directly on the transfer to make it look a little more polished... and then Distressed inked a Crafters' Workshop Dots Circle template for some added interest and to "ground" the piece. I also stamped a couple of branches in Archival Ink (coffee) ... yep, just kept layering it on.

The next step was to wax the surface. I brushed on a couple of coats of beeswax directly onto the canvas and fused the layers between coats with my heat gun. I imprinted cheesecloth into the wax and rubbed some ink into the crevasses for some added texture. I also fused some pieces of cheesecloth to the piece for even more texture and interest.

The eagle is an image I found on the internet .. I copied it onto cover stock paper and adhered it with wax.... I did the same with the words...

The Heart is a UTEE embellishment I made by melting UTEE in my melting pot and pouring it in a silicone heart mold. Perfect!! Just what it needed. I added some perfect pearls to the heart too -- love how it sticks to the UTEE!! There's always a use for Perfect Pearls!!

The twigs were tied with twine and embedded to the canvas with wax. It's all good!

The "frame" around the eagle (created with Oil Pastel) was a little tricky for me -- I had a hard time getting it the way I wanted it..... I removed my first try and started again-- that's one of the things I LOVE about using wax -- if you don't like it, take it off and start again. I like how it ended up in the end. I think it helps pull the piece together.

I had a great time doing this with the gals here --:)

I hope my mom likes it too -- Who am I kidding? I think I'll need to bring an extra box of kleenex ... with emotions on "high alert" this might be a two box gift! LOL.