Now that we have sufficiently distanced ourselves from Halloween I am sharing a Shrine that I made for Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) has NOTHING to do with Halloween. There. I said it. But given the symbolic skulls and the temporal proximity (it is celebrated Nov1-2nd) the confusion is understandable.
I used an Altered Trading Block as the base of my shrine. I also used the Graphic 45 Bohemian Bazaar collection of patterned papers to cover the wooden base and chipboard. Skeletons and skulls symbolize our fragile mortality, but when they are colorful and dressed up festively they are not macabre and indicate we should not fear death, for it is part of the cycle of life.
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| Brightly colored patterned paper |
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| Catrina, by Jose Guadalupe Posada |
Day of the Dead is a celebration to honor those who have passed and who not only are remembered, loved, and missed but are still a cherished part of the community. Since we are a community of artists, it is only fitting that my shrine honor a great artist: Frida Kahlo. Day of the Dead is an inspiring festival for artists because of the abundant brightly colored mixed media and sculptural folk art produced.
You can find not only wood blocks and Graphic 45 paper at Altered Pages.com but also some wonderful Day of the Dead art supplies like these:
Here are some questions for you to start your creative engine today...
If you could have lunch with any artist, alive or deceased, who would it be?
Have you ever remembered someone who passed, literally or symbolically in you art work? How?
Do you ever challenge yourself to work with color palettes that are outside your comfort zone? Why or why not?
Do you enjoy learning about the folk art of other cultures? What cultural art inspires you?
We LOVE comments and interaction with the fabulous Altered Pages community...that's YOU! So join the fiesta here, on the Challenge Blog, and on Facebook!
-X Gia Lau
This is awesome GIA! I love Frida!!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fabulous, Gia. Love the details and how you used the colors, too.
ReplyDeleteExcellent!
ReplyDeleteThis is so bright and fabulous Gia, a stunning altered piece! xx
ReplyDelete