Design Team Project

Mystical Canvas – Kristy Abela

 Hi everyone, Happy new year to you all. I hope it’s been good to you so far. For my inspiration post I decided to continue with the esoteric theme from last month. I am an AVID amateur astrologer and have been playing with the idea to do an off the page for each of the zodiac. If you saw last month it was very definitely a Cancerian theme seeing as the ruler of the sign is the Moon… and the New moon in December in the sign of cancer too… This project focuses on the theme of Twins. Yep.. Gemini! I hope you enjoy it as much as what I did.

  I used a canvas in reverse. I tore the fabric and created a mystical edge. I highlighted it with loads of metallic paint and used black gesso to mute it. I used Paper from Stamperia and fussy cut all the sizable animals I could find out of it. I used clear crackle on the astronomical chart in the background and used oil paint to darken the cracks.  

 I used my Foliage #21 to create silhouettes of trees on the skyline. I used heavy black gesso and dabbed it on using two applications. I applied Wax in silver to highlight the ridges on the trees, a bit like moonlight shadows… 

  I used my chipboard remnants to make the layers between the planets and also the animals. I really wanted a highly dimensional project where every animal looked like it was popping out of the box. It was so hard to photograph. 

 The Wordplay #4 caption said it all… I just used some gold paint and edged it to make it a bit shimmery like my moon. I used some glitter flakes to create the shimmer in the sky.  

 I played with a combination of Industrial Stars #2 and Stars #4 Using both my rule of threes and twin theme.. Once done i filled up the bottom of the frame with Wood wool and Art stones to create a forest floor… 

 Thanks for looking and let me know if you like the Astrological esoteric theme? I am always curious to know how many believers are out there…  


Kristy’s Blog
Abela Artistry