MMM: Games People Play

"They All Talk About Her"

MMM: Games People Play

12 x 12 wood panel

I was really inspired this week by the current issue of Somerset Studio. In it, there is a wonderful article by Kristen Robinson, Unlocking My Creative Soul, in which she talks about taking a panel that she started in a workshop a while ago, and reworking it into something new. I too took a workshop a couple of years ago (Art and Soul) and although I put the pieces away as soon as I got home, I knew that one day, I would like to do something with them. Ironically, the artist whom I took the workshop from also had a wonderful article in this Jan/Feb issue: Misty Mawn. Her piece, Journaling through January, was (as she is in person) so beautiful and inspiring. I love the ethereal quality of her work and I tried to emulate that in my reworked piece above.

For this week's Mixed Media Monday prompt, Games People Play, I wanted to explore the mind games we can conjure up. The central image was from a journal that we made in class. The image was a magazine transfer of a sunglasses ad, and the body was defined by Misty herself. The "scarf" was created with torn ledger pieces and the "buttons" were made from a vintage dictionary page. The background has a base of acrylic and ink with stamping in relief. I reworked it by adding some definition with white pen and charcoal and then created the 12 x 12 wood base from many layers of acrylic, torn paper and more stamping in relief. I added a crumpled and distressed page torn from a vintage Reader's Digest version of The Three Faces of Eve. The quote on her glasses was also taken from a line in the story, "Eyes, eager and jubilant in anticipation of the applause she was sure would be forthcoming, she sat in her chair."

To be honest, I don't know if I was ready for Misty Mawn's class at the time. I was coming from a place of crafting more that creating art, and it is only now that I feel I could attempt to do the original teachings some justice. Thank you Misty for the continued inspiration!

To see more pieces on Games People Play, please check out all the talent on www.MixedMediaMonday.wordpress.com. To see more of Misty Mawn's work, please log on to www.mistymawn.typepad.com.