First on my list?
A freakin' Wonderland tea table! YESSS!
Not just a Wonderland tea table but, a mandala Wonderland tea table with TONS of strange interactions, geometric patterning, texture and color. Words can't even begin to explain how stoked I am about this project.
The journey begins HERE !
To ensure that I maintain steady progress and not let this one go unfinished by it's intended deadline, I am holding myself to at least make a little progress each week and post photos to my Facebook and Instagram accounts on Mondays.
To start, a general idea and some outlines were burned into this handmade, unfinished, pine wood table top that I purchased from a lovely woodworker on Etsy. It has an 18" diameter, is 1" thick and is sturdily constructed, displaying a beautiful pattern of wood grain and knots.
As with most of my work, I either purchase materials from other artists to help keep the support strong or, I repurpose random items that I find from random places and people....hand-me-downs, things people are throwing(crazily!) out due to it being broken/unused/unwanted. I also really enjoy going out in the yard or on walks and finding some really cool chunks of wood. Believe it or not, almost 90% of my painting and staining supplies came from people that were just going to toss it out.....not on my watch!
I really started to get a feel for where I wanted to go with it once I got some of the basic ideas and outlines burned in. It's definitely turned into a piece that I feel it necessary to work on in segments. Doing a bit here and a bit there, putting it down for the day or night, then, coming back to it the next day really seems to be working for me on this one. When I come back to it and get to see it in a different light, in a different mood, I'm filled with so many more ideas on what I'd like to do next or what I would like to add, and where, to start blending the pieces together.
I did get stuck for a bit....
For a lot longer than I really wanted to when it came to designing the Queen of Hearts portion. I tried so many things that just didn't work. I knew specific things I wanted out of it so, I kept those and kept pushing and trying new things until the day came that I FINALLY got it right where I wanted. It felt like such a victory and a relief and ended up clearing out that painful creative block that I was going through. Then, the creativity really started pouring through me!
For a little while, at least.....
I ended up needing to shift my focus to some other very important parts of my life that lasted a couple of weeks but, after taking the time from burning, I FINALLY returned to working on the table, once again. It felt fantastic to be back at it! It's so strange, even for myself, to feel like I've missed this table. This unfinished, still fairly empty tea table. It most definitely feels like a part of me now.
I jumped back in and added some more color to the Queen of Hearts and burned some texture into "black" areas of it. I also added some purple and blue to the Cheshire cat smoke coming from the hookahs and did some burn shading.
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| Entry Date 2•13•2017 ||| Birdseye View of Overall Progress |
The crowns, though still not complete, have had some deeper, straight lines added to them to give them a little more shape and depth. The leaves at the bottom right of the hearts got a new, "rose-like" texture burned into them that add to the whole "everything is what is isn't theme". White was also added to the right side of the hearts which really made all of the surrounding color POP!
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| Entry Date 2•13•2017 ||| Textured Queen of Hearts in Red, Black, White & Gold |
The closeup below shows the purple and blue that was added to the Cheshire Cat "smoke" that I chose to use instead of hoses coming from the hookahs. A bit of shading in the colors themselves and a little more shading done with the burner.
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| Entry Date 2•13•2017 ||| Purple & Blue Cheshire Cat "Smoke" |
The silver "balls" of the "pins", placed under the Mad Hatter hats, have multiple layers to raise them up a bit. That, in combination with the natural depths achieved in the burning process, give them a pretty rad 3D effect. I also started toying around with placing a little more silver in random places throughout the table top. Some may stay, some may end up being covered and some may be removed altogether. Who knows?! 😁 This process is literally being working on a day-to-day basis and my mind changes so much with each day that passes...in the best way possible, that is.
I'm so stoked to see where this piece takes me. A journey I'll hold dear to me for the rest of my life! 💖
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