Family Portrait a la DecoArt!

I was inspired by Martin Luther King day here in the United States to make this family portrait. Perhaps it is a mother with her children, or maybe it is three generations in this photo, but it caught my eye. 

 I love to repurpose items, especially if they are going to be thrown out, so when my son came across this old gasket while working on his truck, he knew I would be excited to use it! Go figure, right?

Jimmy Leslie talked about repurposing junk into art in his class at Creative Jumpstart 2017, and shared some examples. This got me thinking about how I could use some of my "junk".

 I covered it with the Ultra Matte Varnish so it wouldn't disintegrate further.

My other item to repurpose was a flat packaging wooden box, which I covered with gesso.

Now, the fun begins in creating the background! First layer is a mix of Burnt Siena, Quinacridone Gold, and Transparent Yellow Oxide. Starting to develop a bit of a burl to the wood! I then went in and added Clear Crackle in some areas.

While that was drying, I touched a bit of Prussian Blue Hue to my metal pieces and mica sheets.

Next step is to adhere the photo and metal to the gasket.

Now that my "orangish"background is ready,  it's time to make it look vintage, so I started by rubbing in some Prussian Blue Hue with my fingers.

Then, I went in with the Carbon Black Antiquing Cream  and buffed and wiped until it showed up in certain sections, especially the crackle areas.

I decided to go in again with the blue to deepen it.

The box/frame is done, and I love how old it looks! 

Here you can see the crackle a bit more.

Details of the metal and gears...

Found these mini scrabble letters and added some paint to make them look old.

Voila! My vintage family portrait is done. Don't you wonder what story is behind this photo? Maybe they are headed off on a journey together. 

I hope you have enjoyed the journey through my creative steps, and that I may have brought a bit of inspiration into your day!

DecoArt Supplies:

Ultra Matte Varnish

White Gesso

Clear Crackle Glaze

Quinacridone Gold Fluid Acrylic

Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide Fluid Acrylic

Burnt Sienna Fluid Acrylic

Prussian Blue Hue Fluid Acrylic

Carbon Black Antiquing Cream

Other Supplies:

piece of junk (old car gasket)

small flat wood box

paintbrush

rag

craft heat gun

craft glue

gears

mica

Scrabble mini letters (Jolee's)

Found Relative (Tim Holtz)

Mechanicals (Finnabair)