Shabby Chic Flair

Mixed Media Animal Art With Shabby Chic Flair

I have been experimenting with art for several years now. Many of you have watched me as I have learned different techniques and enjoyed creating with mixed media, acrylic paint, watercolors, and everything in between.

For a while now I have felt like my work is really random and scattered and well…not really what I want it to be. I really like all of these different mediums and have never felt good about narrowing things down and choosing only one. But I have felt the need to somehow pull everything together and combine it all into one unique look. I finally figured out how to do it. Here’s what I did…

I browsed through some photos on my computer and chose things that I have made in the past that really jumped out at me. These photos above were my three favorite pieces. I wanted to try to combine the elements of all three into one look…mixed media animal art with shabby chic flair. That is what I was hoping for.

So, I got brave and got started!

This is what I ended up with…I named her BeYouTiful Bovine. She has a mixed media background similar to the first photo in the three favorites above. She has the look of Whimslie, the second piece in the three above, and I added the impressionistic roses from the third photo above. I had originally thought I’d add words, but a customer requested it as it is, so I did not add any wording. I cannot tell you how much fun it was creating this piece!

I also did some more practice on some scrap cardboard and created this shabby chic sheep. I was practicing my deco podge skills and ended up learning several things. First, I can mod podge or use gel medium on top of the papers in the background to help prepare the area for the paint that I want to add. I don’t have to use gesso, and crackle medium makes me HAPPY!!

Here’s my little shabby crackle paint experiment!

I am super excited and can’t wait to continue creating more pieces in this style! Flowers, sheep, cows, distressed paint, mason jars, pigs, butterflies, birds, nests, lace, burlap, barns, layers of paint, and pretty papers are all floating around in my head when I try to sleep at night. 🙂 Words like grace, lovely, strength, kindness, love, honor, peace, truth, contentment, home, security, and bravery come to mind when I think of what I want these paintings to say (literally or figuratively).

I hope you like this combination of all my favorite things!

The original piece, BeYouTiful Bovine, sold, however, I now have prints of her available in my shop! Just follow this link to purchase: BeYouTiful Bovine