The Green Woman makes her Debut

It took all week and 2 minor heart attacks, but my tree lady is painted. As you can see, she has changed a lot! She went off in a completely different direction as I painted her, morphing from a tree spirit into a Green Woman. 

I hadn't intended for her to be as dark as this, but as I kept adding wash upon wash of color (I just counted... there are 18 colors of paint on her) the darker she got, the more I liked it.  Oh well, when the must speaks, it is best to just go with it.

I can only stare at her in wonder -- WHERE did she come from? I don't know...

I argued with myself quite a bit before deciding to add the micromarble embellishments - sometimes more is just too much - but I couldn't resist. I'm glad I didn't. :-)

She is 19" tall from root to tallest branch, and quite heavy.  It will be fun deciding on just the right spot to display her.

I have an idea now for another tree woman in an entirely different style. I even have another head in my stash ready to go.

Tree WIP - Ready to Paint?

I spent a good part of yesterday finishing the sculpting portion of my Tree Lady and adding some texture elements to give her skin more of a bark-like texture.  Tonight I plan on adding tiny touches of apoxie here and there to flesh out her hands and cover up some flaws in her branches, but other than that, I think he is ready for her first coat of paint!

I am just really REALLY relieved that I don't have to twist up any more leaf clusters.  I estimate that I used about 10 strands of chips, both gem and glass, as well as 2 spools of 26 gauge wire.  If I had known what I was letting myself in for when I started, I probably wouldn't have given her leaves, LOL.

This girl is BIG, about 19" from bottom to the tip of the tallest branch.

I think I am going to add a few more leaf cascades around her face, but I want to see what she looks like painted first. 

I love the way her root system turned out, especially once I added the banana silk fibers to tone down the "sculpted" look of the clay.  The effect is subtle, but it really made her come alive.

A few years ago I would have been too paralyzed by the fear of ruining her to touch her with a paintbrush, but I have learned that layers are the way to go, and if all else fails, there is always starting over, LOL.


Wish me luck!