What it is:
One of the things on my to do list this week was to paint a violin.
The violin was a project that will benefit our local symphony school.
The school, the administrative offices for the symphony orchestra, along with its performance home were all destroyed in the 2008 floods.
Although these violins did not get wet, they were ruined just the same because of the humidity in the building and the inability of anybody to get in there to save them.
Consequently, they were offered up to local artisans to decorate them as they saw fit
and they will all be auctioned off next month to raise funds for the school.
I thought this would be a fun challenge and a small contribution on my part towards local flood relief.
How I did it:
I first painted my violin white.
I was thinking of purchasing a Silhouette to do more subway style art for not only this project but also for The Traveling Door sale this November but I quickly learned that the Silhouette isn't compatible with my Mac.
So sad.
So I had to go the old fashioned method.
I printed out the names of places that are unique to Cedar Rapids on computer contact paper.
I cut out each of the letters and pasted them to the violin.
Then I painted over the entire piece with black paint.
After carefully removing the letters I touched up any areas that needed to be cleaned up.
It says:
Czech Village
Orchestra Iowa
TCR (Theatre Cedar Rapids)
CRMA (Cedar Rapids Museum of Art)
and Brucemore.
I tricked out the back with black and white stripes,
and did a decoupage treatment with sheet music to the sides.
My Motivation
My take on this project was to give a shout out to our city and its efforts to rise above the devastation and reclaim its position as a cultural gem of the Midwest.
For me this piece was pretty subdued and subtle and
I was pretty pleased with my efforts until I saw what my friend did.
String Bling
Now hers is "off the chains".
Mine will be the wall flower to her starlet but I'm okay with that.
I think it is fun to see the different directions and looks these pieces take on.
There will be something for everybody.
This project is called Art Strings and my friend took her inspiration from that name.
She aptly named her piece String Bling.
Now those who know me know I have a weakness for bling.
Love it.
I am usually the one that is over dressed for every event.
What can I say?
I love to dress up.
So when I saw her violin I was over the moon in love with it.
I want it.
Where could I put it? :)
How cool is that?
She glued on each and every one of those rhinestones.
I'll bet she closes her eyes at night and dreams in bling.
Thank God these were children's violins and not bass cellos.
She would be at it still and it would have cost a small fortune.
Sherri says, though, that this blinging thing is addictive.
She wants to bling everything.
Her phone,
picture frames,
anything with a flat surface.
We could have a blinging party. :)
All in all, this was a fun project and I can't wait to see all of the violins displayed at ARA Gallery.
You can bet I will take pictures to share with you.
XOXO,
P
Linking up here:
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