INVINCIBLE

 "She made broken look beautiful    and strong look invincible.  

 She walked with the Universe on her   shoulders and made it look like a   pair of wings." 

 - Ariana Dancu 

 Ariana Dancu 
This is the second piece of artwork using art therapy that I made after the death of my friend Lori. (The first piece called ASCENSION can be read here.) The idea for this piece came after a friend shared the above poem. If you’ve never read any of Ariana’s poems, I encourage you to take a look at her Instagram account @arianapoetess. Her poems may be short, but they are very inspiring.

 INVINCIBLE 

The poem was all the inspiration I needed and I began to visualize the finished piece before I had even begun. Immediately after reading the poem, I knew I wanted to pair it with “Winged Girl” (Lost Coast Designs), and the stencil “Flourish” (Stampers Anonymous). Also, I wanted to hand letter the poem and have it spread over 2 pages in my large journal.

 How to - 

To begin, I glued scraps of paper onto the spread with matte medium (Liquitex) and then painted a layer of unbleached titanium acrylic paint (Liquitex Basics). Next, I stenciled “Scribbles” (Stampers Anonymous) all over with raw sienna (Liquitex Basics).

I wanted to handwrite the poem in calligraphy except for the words ‘beautiful’, ‘invincible’, and ‘WINGS’ which I stamped with my “Typewriter Alphabet Clearly Impressed Stamp Set by Julie van Oosten” (Stampington & Company). First, I practiced writing the poem on scrap paper, next I used tracing paper to transfer it onto the spread, and then I outlined it with a black Uni-ball Signo pen.

I stamped the two small stamps in the corners (Michaels) and “Winged Girl” (Lost Coast Designs) using a hydrangea blue (StāzOn) stamp pad. They came out brighter than I wanted so I watered down some of the unbleached titanium paint and brushed it over them. After I fussy-cut them out, I laid them on the spread for placement, and decided to add some brown tissue paper under the woman. For dimension, I used foam tape to attach the stamped images.

Next, I stenciled “Flourish” with spa blue craft paint (Americana) around the edges.

I hope you will take the time to visit Ariana’s site. Let me know if any of her poems inspire you, and please join me every Tuesday and Friday for more blog posts at arteverydaystudio.blogspot.com. Stay strong, friends!

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