pinteresting ideas

This weekend I was hoping to do a little project I saw on Pinterest. So far things are shaping up to be a little busier than I expected so we'll see. Maybe I'll have something fun to share in a few days.
As I was thinking about it though, I remembered the project Sara and I did back in June. We saw this and thought it would be fun to try so we put our kids to bed, served up brownies and got to work.

First we brushed some whites and browns across a couple of canvases and I fidgeted with my (at the time) dying camera. I gave up on my sticky shutter and decided to document the moment in Hipstamatics.

Then we painted on some branchy shapes and I noticed our brownies matched our project so far. Sara has a knack for reproducing art just like the original while I have a knack for always making up my own rules and then wishing I had just followed directions. (and this is where I wanted to link to a fantastic firetruck painting that Sara did and blogged...but I can't find it! Sara, link it in the comments!)

We added spots of paint with round sponge brushes and, for a finishing touch, mod podged some cut-outs from a stack of paint chips. We could have painted all the spots but the paper bits added some interesting texture to the whole thing.

The final result is a quirky pretty piece of art that perfectly matches all the colors of our new home. Mine looks absolutely nothing like the piece that inspired it but I love it. I love it because it reminds me of my sweet friend and that time we stayed up till 2a.m. crafting with paper and sponge brushes like kindergartners.

(By the way, I saw the original at World Market the other day and it is a beautiful painting with depth and color and meaning I could never replicate. I am not advocating for copying artists work to sell or claim creative credit for, but art inspires art, so I see nothing wrong with studying a particular work and making your own version for fun as you giggle and munch brownies with your best friend. Just sayin.)