Art and Photo by mayah(c)2016
Art and photo by mayah(c)2016
Eco Art: "Tea Bark Dangles"--These are made out of found tree bark from around my neighborhood. The trees are shedding their bark in record amounts this summer; I suspect that it's the particularly hot and dry weather we've been having in southern California all year that's causing the trees to dry out and shed their bark more profusely than is usual.
The foundation for each piece is a 4" X 4" X 1" stretched canvas-over-wood covered with used tea bags and coated with flat acrylic glaze; the "pearls" are from an old broken necklace; embroidery thread for the "dangles"; non-toxic no-VOC glues/glazes/acrylic paint.
These look simple but they were challenging to make. The tree bark was dry and brittle and broke easily, so I reinforced it by adding several layers of thick white glue to the back and coated the front of the bark with flat acrylic glaze. The white glue makes the bark stronger and more flexible, and the acrylic glaze keeps the bark from flaking while adding a thin layer of protection to the bark.
The smaller bark pieces used for the dangles cracked when pierced with a needle used to pull the thread through, so the cracks needed repair with a little piece of napkin glued onto the back. Why napkin? It was lying around on my art table, and it's flexible yet strong--it made a good "band aid" to hold the cracks together; from the front the cracks are hard to distinguish from the patterning of the bark. The back of the "dangles" were then painted with dark brown acrylic paint to cover over the napkin "band aids" and to make the backs look uniform, add contrast to the lighter-colored natural bark on the other side, and give the bark an extra layer of strengthening.
"Eco Art by mayah" utilizes recycled and earth-friendlier art materials.
More Eco Art:
Monarch Butterflies/Waves: http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=2332901
"Eagle, Feathers, Seed Pods, and Jewels" http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=2332911
Bunch O' MaGs: Refrigerator magnets: http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=2332016
New Life for Old MaGs: http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=2332005
"Emerging Elephants": http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=2331383
"Tree Bark X 8": http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=2331377
"Samurai Summer": http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=2331376