Finishing Ruthie’s Dragonfly

Dear Liza,

A few weeks ago I started a new mixed media project with Ruthie Inman’s Zoom Art group. This week, I finished it up.

We were all aiming for a dragonfly of some sort, but we were using different materials. Ruthie debated between rickrack and an old bracelet, Vimi used paper and napkins, and I went with buttons. A hot glue gun did the trick.

For the wings, I went with plain paper painted with yellow acrylic and lines drawn in dark blue. I realized too late that I had used a water soluble pencil for the lines, which meant I risked smudging with any dampness.

I was very sparing with the Mod Podge and got the wings attached with no damage. Here it is in front of my monitor, with Ruthie’s hands working on hers.

I wanted a bit more depth to the wings because they seemed flat compared to the textures of the background and body. Thin shreds of tissue paper did the trick!

Not a masterpiece, perhaps, but very nice, and better than I thought I could do. Thanks, Ruthie!

Love,

Grandma Judy