Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Framed peacock

This art work first began as embroidery. I wanted to somehow make use of the shiny anchor threads that I'd bought many months ago. I started with this peacock drawing that I remembered we had in our drawing book in school. Once the embroidery was done, which was slower than I'd imagined, I kept thinking of different ideas to showcase it. Finally, after 2-3 days, I was convinced that there was no better way other than creating a frame. I got a new raw material for the frame - m seal, yes, the same epoxy compound used for pipes. This was the first time I was working with m-seal. I saw the instructions on creating an m-seal frame in a magazine, got all the needed materials and started one morning. I was totally unaware that m-seal would leave behind black marks in your palm and had a tough time cleaning it, but later during the day found that if you rub talcum powder on your hands then the stickiness reduces and hands remain clean! Finally by around 6pm I’d completed making the frame. The unpainted black frame also looked good except for the portions where there was no m-seal. The next day I started painting it with fevicryl metallic paints to give the frame a country antique feel. After 3 hrs of carefully painting the frame, I was utterly thrilled with my latest creation. And then I felt, “hmmm… my frame deserves something better than this peacock”. :) Anyways I am completely happy to have learnt something new that I can now add to my collection.

Step-by-step images below: