Who knew that a $5.00 bag of 'Rectangular Wood Pieces'
from the craft section of Michael's could be SO INSPIRING!!
I originally bought this pouch of pieces to paint tiny little bibles
for a Vacation Bible School activity I was prepping for the preschool class.
But I had left over tiles in two sizes: 3/4" x 1.5" and 1/2" x 1"
What to do, what to do??
Well, I like quirky, one-of-a-kind art as much as the next person...
I was quickly envisioning a collection of tiles with little
unique, hand-drawn 'somethings' on them...
I could frame them and sell them or just hang 'em up in my art room...
But what to draw? What should the collection be?
How about dogs?
Well, I made one or two dog designs whenever I sat down but then by the sixth,
Inspiration struck!
What if I made a collage of animals, each one representing a letter of the alphabet!
Woo-hoo!!
Asking whoever happened to be in the room, "What animal begins with...."
I worked away drawing whatever animal was suggested
and came up with this:
"Animal Alphabet"
What I love about this is that there's no going back - it's ink on wood -
there is no erasing, no changing your mind!
I was so excited that I had fitted the tiles in such a way
to make the whole alphabet fit into a neat li'l rectangle,
well, that is until my darling husband looked at it for less than 2 seconds
and announced I was missing a letter - his mathematical brain amazes me!
Umm, yes, I forgot the letter "Y", my apologies to the Yawning Yak
who may have been Yearning to be a part of this piece!!
who may have been Yearning to be a part of this piece!!
Well, still having several tiles in that little plastic bag from Michael's, what was I to do next?
How was I to use them up? An even BIGGER inspiration struck me!!
Wait for it...
"Pride & Prejudice"
(fineliner pen, watercolour, gouache on wood tiles arranged on chalkboard)
After studying Jane Austen's handwriting I copied some favourite quotes from her story
onto a few of the tiles, added 'lace' detail to some, and even painted miniature versions of the
three major houses in the story: Longbourne, Netherfield Park, and Pemberly.
I included all the couples - even my favourite, Aunt & Uncle Gardiner!
They are all just resting on a chalkboard surface,
I hope to adhere them to a permanent surface soon!
Here are a few close-ups:
The tiles are just about used up, only a couple tiny ones left...
Loving the spark, Boom! POW!! of inspiration!!
♥ Cath-
