Introducing....Cerulea

La Sirene dans le mer.

Cerulea loves to swim in the ocean where the jellies are. She is a little shy, but believes in possibilites.

I have included a little photomontage of the process.

Step one: paint background	Step 2: collage background
Step 3: cut out and glue on picture	Step 4: Add hair and texture
Step 5: Add background pics	Step 6: Painted background picture
Step 7: Added wax

Adding Beeswax without an Iron

I finally got around to adding the beeswax to my painting. I just wanted to share with you the technique I used, since I do not have access to the quilting (or any) iron.

I used a sheet of beeswax - designed for candle making. The reason was that it was a cheap way to have a play, at around Au$3.50 a sheet. I also thought that it would be really quick and easy to melt.

I wanted to emulate Suzi as much as I could, so I used a metal pallete knife and a heat gun (designed for use with embossing powders etc). Instead of melting the whole sheet, and applying with a paint brush, I tore off tiny pieces of wax and stuck them in various spots over the painting. Each piece was about 0.5cm in diameter. I then heated the wax until it melted, and smoothed it out with the pallete knife. Sometimes it was necessary to keep the heat on the knife as I spread out the wax. I also tilted the painting to allow the liquid was to travel further. Any areas that went cloudy were simply reheated.

I am delighted with the result - yay for Suzi. I really like how the different elements are unified like she said they would be. I did not put wax over her body or face, since I have not coloured her with Prismacolour pencils. I also left the largest jellyfish uncovered, so that the other two would appear further in the background.