Welcome, Little Mermaid

40 x 30 Mixed Media Mermaid

Well, she is finished, sort of.  I haven’t thought of a name yet and I imagine I will see things to change as the picture sits here in my studio.  It was fun to reimagine the original painting and give it fresh life:

40 x 30 Astoria Pilings

The first step was to print out a pattern:

Enlarged Mermaid Clip Art on Painted background

Then I covered her hair with paper clay!  The paper clay will stick if you put a layer of good glue under it.  I used Aleen’s Tacky Glue.

I made ropes of paper clay and flattened the clay with a roller and gave the hair texture with a fork.

Then I painted the hair and adhered a genuine turquoise head band with leather strips.  Looking at the photo just now I need to add more leather strips!

I had planned to make her tail from paper clay but it takes FOREVER to dry.  I remembered the new roll of ArtEmboss foil I had and cut out the rump and tail sections.  I am really happy with the result!  Then I made an ArtEmboss Tillamook Head.

This will be one of the featured pieces for July ArtWalk in Seaside, Oregon at Sunrose Gallery.  I put together another little collage this morning with the little mason jar assemblage I mentioned the other day.