Frieda Oxenham: This Too Shall Pass

February is such a non-descript month. All the festivities from January are safely behind us and spring is still some distance away. Here in the Scottish Borders, February tends to be a grey and wet month with the occasional white (snow) highlight. I usually feel melancholy and sad during this month, and as a reaction my art becomes more colorful because I long for brightness. That’s how this project originated with the faces looking both ways, back towards winter and forwards to spring.

Here is the full step by step tutorial but remember you can do exactly the same using colors as well as stencils that are more to your taste. Don’t get hung up on the fact that you might not have the same supplies. But I must admit that face stencil from the December 2017 StencilClub set is a Must Have as far as I’m concerned! 

1.      Gesso two pages in your art journal. I used a 9 x 9” Bee Paper Mixed Media journal.

2.      Add collage. I used a mix of vintage, wrapping and scrapbook paper. 

3.       Using a variety of Distress Markers, color around and over the collage papers and remove the color through the smallest stencil from December 2015 StencilClub, with a baby wipe.

4.      Do the same thing as in step 3 but this time with paint (I used mainly Fresco paint from PaperArtsy as well as a fluorescent paint) with the stencil mentioned in step 3 as well as the medium stencil from August 2014 StencilClub.

5.      Add some texture by rubber stamping. I used a circle stamp designed by Nathalie Kalbach.
  

6.      Glue on some tissue paper (I used a French text one).

7.      Add even more texture by stenciling some small circles (using the large stencil from December 2017 StencilClub) with white paint.

8.      Do the same as step 7 but with the larger circles from the same stencil.

9.      Using the same stencil again (from step 7) outline the silhouette of the face twice (one in mirror image) with a permanent black marker.

10.  Paint in the faces (I used Radiant Gel by ColourArte).

11.  Add the eyes (I used washi tape by Jane Davenport) and drip some white acrylic ink down the pages from the eyes. I also added more washi tape here and there on the pages. 

12.  Add the text. I used a variety of alphabet stamp sets and stamped on scrapbook paper. I ran the edge of a black permanent ink pad around the edges of each word and then glued them on as shown.

13.  Outline where you prefer using black and white permanent markers.

14.  Edge the pages with the permanent black ink pad.  

(C) Frieda Oxenham 2018. To see more of Frieda's work, please visit her BLOG.