Grab Yourself a Cuppa!

Lately, I’ve been really enjoying playing with patterns again – in mask making, in painting, and in multi-media collage. You see, several years ago, I read Kelly Rae’s book “Taking Flight”… and I completed a portrait using various decorative papers as my base.

While I loved the opportunity to combine lots of different patterns (shells, hearts, swirls, Pooh Bear, flowers, text, etc.) in a pleasing way, I didn’t appreciate the way you could see the edges of the underlying paper. I know a lot of people *like* seeing the edges, but I guess I’m just not one of them.

Recently, I was inspired to take another run at collage, so I thought about possible subject matters – things that I, personally, adore. Birds… flowers… and teacups/mugs came to mind. I did a few quick Google image searches and really loved this awesome piece by Kate Mason (among others). Although, this too has the edge issue…

Then, on a recent stock-up at the good ol’ WalMart, I came upon an oblong frame that reminded me of Kate Mason’s piece. I picked it up and started brainstorming… then planning…

First, to get around the whole weird paper edges thing, I started drawing different sizes and shapes of possible cups using plain card stock (instead of using paint to define them). Then, given the size and shape of the canvas-board, I played around with the cups until I figured out which ones worked best together and how to arrange them. (Note: there were many more cups than are shown here.)

Meanwhile, I played around with four colours of acrylic paint (aqua, turquoise, canvas, caramel) until I got the mottled effect I wanted for the background.

Next, I dug out some of my papers. I decided to stick to one theme for this first attempt, and chose a variety of “polka dots”. After several combinations and rearrangements, I found eight patterns that I thought went well together. I used the “negative space” cutouts from my cups to get an idea what the finished product might look like. I set to work carefully cutting out my cups.

YES! That’ll do quite nicely! 🙂

Then… life got in the way, and I put this project aside for a couple of weeks. When I finally got back to it, I figured I would just quickly Mod Podge the papers down, so they’d stop flying off the board, and then set it aside for a couple more weeks… but the cups had other plans. 😉

First, while I was gluing the cups down, I decided I preferred to have them a bit “jaunty” rather than all straight and level. THEN, while I was waiting for the glue to dry, I had Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” lyrics pop into my head: “Well, I tumble outta bed and stumble to the kitchen / Pour myself a cup of ambition / Yawn and stretch and try to come to life.” I really liked the idea of grabbing a cup of ambition… and started brainstorming other things we put in cups. How could I make my cups reflect all these things??? Tea tags, of course! So… gave each cup a tag “containing” something that that cup reminded me of. And I also Mod Podged on some twine as well…

Then, it was a matter of adding more definition. I used water-soluble crayons to create a “distressed” effect and a bit of shadow on the cups themselves. Then I used my Posca pens to outline the cups and tags. Something was still missing… Hmm… Then, my son suggested painting steam rising from the cups. I doodled some ideas on a scrap page and wasn’t inspired by having eight cups of identical swirls… until it dawned on me that the steam could be yet *another* layer of individualizing the cups! DoodleDoodleDoodle. And, surprise… the piece was done! Well… after I spray-sealed it all, that is.

I love that this piece packs a lot of colour and quirkiness into a small-ish space. The frame itself measures 8″x15″x1.2″ – perfect for those skinny wall spaces that many of us have in our kitchens these days. Of course, it is also small enough to tuck on the counter, under the cabinets… and it’s sealed, so it’s easy to wipe clean, should anything get splattered on it by accident.

I’d really love to try making another one of these, playing with different things (like papers used, pens used, what’s in the cups, etc.)… but really don’t need two of them in my kitchen! 😛 So… if you like this piece, I’m offering it up for sale for an introductory price of just $20, to cover my materials. Let me know if you’re interested in this one (first come, first served… UPDATE: Sold!!!) Alternately, if you would like a custom piece created (the price will likely double, to cover at least some of my creative time as well) message me, and we’ll see what we can cook up!

Anyhow. That’s my teacup collage (and a bit of a DIY too, I guess). Thanks for the inspiration, Kate Mason! I hope y’all like the piece as much as I do. And if you DO make one of your own, make sure to send me a photo – I’d love to see it!!! Time for me to go and grab a cuppa sleep, now. 😉 Cheers!!!