What are you feeling? {vol.6}

Today we meet again to talk about our feelings.

Do you know the song - 'Try A Little Tenderness'? :)
This month we talk and create about an emotion that each and every one of us needs in our lives.
But it doesn't necessarily always has to be warm and fuzzy. ;) We hope you'll feel inspired and join us in our June Emotional Challenge.

When I thought about the word 'tenderness' I saw white, soft and airy things. But can blackness and darkness be tender, too? Like a whisper in the dusk, like a rustle of a dress...

My dress was made with threads, ribbons, lace and tulle.

I painted it with glimmer mists and splashed using Twinkling H2Os watercolors.

 

Supplies from Mixed Media Place:

My work about tenderness is a kind of intimate confession, a dialogue with my weaknesses and expectations. I think sometimes we all should try to take a closer look into our individuality. Just to improve ourselves.

To create the background I mixed Izinks with acrylic paints. If you want to know step-by-step how I did it, please visit my blog today.

Supplies from Mixed Media Place:

 

When I think of tenderness, the first thing that comes to mind, is a hug.

Not only a physical one (though those are great!), but also a mental hug, when you surround others with hugs from your heart. Comforting, soothing, loving words or actions, that come from the heart, without even having to think about it.

And it has something contagious about it: I dare you to look at that little girl hugging her bear without going ‘aaaaaw’ in your head! Tenderness has something cute about it, that makes us melt. Doesn’t it?

For the background of this spread, I started by glueing down a piece of home rusted tissue paper.

Once dried, I added Ecoline for some color. In some areas, the gel medium sipping through the tissue paper acted as a resist.

I added stamping with Sepia and Black Archival ink. Once transferred, the rub-on tree was rubbed with sanding paper to give it a distressed look.

The sentiment was stamped with an old alpha stamp, while the word ‘Tenderness’ was done on my old typewriter. And yes, I did take my art journal through my sewing machine. ;)

Supplies from Mixed Media Place:

Many descriptive words come to mind when defining what "tenderness" is.
It is a way we respond to someone or something that is delicate or fragile, that is soft, hurt or easily damaged. Our world is a fragile place...the land and its animals and plants, the oceans and its marine life, the air we breath and of course us - the people who inhabit it.
My art journal page is reflective of  the damage we are doing to ourselves and to our environment.

I used some of my street art photographs to do an image transfer onto patterned paper and highlighted them with stamping, embossing, texture paste and paint.

I find Finnabair's Cold Country "Secret Diary" paper is perfect for art journal backgrounds as well as whole page LOs.
As for the image transfer...I took the original photo in an alley in Melbourne. I added texture through a mask, embossing, stamping and colour with Silks.

Supplies from Mixed Media Place:

For me, there is nothing more tender than babies when they sleep, including animal babies.
These puppies inspired me to use soft colors and sweet words.

I used yummy 7Dots Studio paper and various mediums from Mixed Media Place shop.

The background paper is glued to the journal made out of brown paperbags. To make the crackle paint on the feather I mixed white acrylic paint and crackle medium. The washi tape is used to make some background and contrast behind the picture. Finally I stamped with the doily stamp and sepia ink.

Supplies from Mixed Media Place:

We can see tenderness everywhere around us: a couple kissing, a mother with her child, two people holding hands, a kitty sleeping with a puppy,...
But sometimes it just takes us by surprise in the most unexepected places...

Last November my friends were on a trip to Vietnam. Like a lot of tourists, they went to the market in Hue. It's where they took the photo I chose to scrap.
This old woman was nursing her blind husband, just there on the street, as if they were alone. A beautiful proof of love and tenderness, don't you think...?

Supplies from Mixed Media Place:

Call me stuck to the pattern, but I went with a lady canvas again!

The color scheme is similar to my very first one, but to me pink and pale yellow are the most tender colors. They remind me of spring and early summer so I used flowers and butterflies in her hair to get that fresh feeling.

This time I used a stamp to create the face of the lady instead of painting one myself. I also added a little quote to the canvas.

Supplies from Mixed Media Place:

Tenderness is something forgotten, but I believe that everyone should be tender at least to themselves.

The world can be very harsh, so we need to calm ourselves down in order to be balanced and for our emotional well-being.

Tenderness is a great way to treat yourself as a special being - which you truly are.

Supplies from Mixed Media Place:


And now it's time to reveal who won our previous Emotional Challenge which was: Jealousy.
Not an easy topic, we know... But you sent us some really fantastic artworks that amazed us with their messages and mixed media beauty...

Thank you so much for joining us in our emotional mixed media adventure... ♥
And now... the winner of the Jealousy challenge is...

... Peninia ...

with her stunning journal cover

Congratulations! Please contact us to claim your prizes: store(at)mixedmediaplace.com

So, are you ready to share some Tenderness with the world? ;)

If so, come and join us in this month's Emotional Challenge.
It's just enough to add a link to your work using the inlinkz tool below.
We'll be waiting until June 20th.

Then, one work chosen by our DT will be awarded a prize (a coupon to be used in Mixed Media Place store).