RABBIT'S FOOT FERN

 We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. 

 - Abraham Lincoln 

 Green Thumb 

When I recently attended the Philadelphia Flower Show, one of the vendors was selling a small rabbit’s foot fern, and I bought it without hesitation. This was purely a sentimental purchase because as soon as I saw it, I immediately thought of my grandmother who had one of the greenest thumbs I’ve ever seen. Till very late in life she was always growing something; and flowers or vegetables, it made no difference; she grew them equally with ease. To this day, I’ve never smelled any roses as fragrant with colors as beautiful as hers were. During their growing season, she would always send me home with a small bouquet wrapped in a wet paper towel.

 A Mail Order Foot 

Inside, my grandmother grew Christmas Cactus, African Violets, and a very large Rabbit’s Foot Fern. She told me that when she was young, her mother sent away for a mail order Rabbit’s Foot Fern. What she got was a “rabbit’s foot” the size and diameter of your pointer finger. She then planted it in a pot and from that one “foot,” several ferns were born, my grandmother’s fern being a descendant. It was very large and hardy with lots of feet shooting off. I don’t remember what happened to her fern. Most likely it went with her when she moved away to the nursing home. I’m just happy that I have a reminder sitting on my table of someone that I loved and miss very much. And with any luck, (or a green thumb), my fern will grow as large and healthy as hers was.

 How to 

The fern is fine in its pot for the moment so I decided to put it into a “puddle catcher”. A clean can was just the right size, so I started by painting the top and bottom of the can with Liquitex glossies black paint. I cut a blank piece of canvas 12 ½” x 3 ¾” and then gessoed it. I added pieces of washi tape and secured them with Liquitex matte medium. 

Next, I began painting and distressing the canvas, first with lime green Craft Smart acrylic paint and then with Folk Art antiquing medium in nutmeg. 

  

I stenciled Travel Note from StencilGirl in mars black Liquitex paint, and then painted the edges with cirton green Americana paint. 

I added some inked paper which I stamped, cut, and arranged into an abstract placement.

Finally, I added black dots from Jolees-Boutique using Glossy Accents. 

To glue the canvas to the can, I first sanded the can to rough it up and then applied Aleene’s Rapid Dry Mixed-Media Adhesive. Now I have a beautiful can to hold my new found treasure; oh and that’s a picture of my Mom-Mom holding me at 2 weeks.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and will join me every Tuesday and Friday for more blog posts at arteverydaystudio.blogspot.com.

Art in the Studio makes every day a good day.

Thanks for spending time with ArtEveryDayStudio!