Witching Hour by Lori Woods

Hello creative friends! I'm so happy to be back with you again and this time I have a dark and witchy project for these dark winter months!

I have to admit, I find this time of year a little magical- the dark crisp days when it seems like nature has gone to sleep for the winter, awaiting the warmer weather. The magic of an autumn night when everything is misty and smells of woodsmoke, and the veil between worlds seems a little thinner. These thoughts inspired me to create this project about the Witching Hour- the time late at night when magical powers are thought to be at their strongest.

I wanted to create a very textured background for this piece to mimic the textures of nature so I used lots of paper paste which has a fantastic consistency for sculpting with. Simply creating lines in the paste allows you to give a lot of dimension to the area and creates some interesting spots where the paste gathers together.

I used a colour palette that mixed quite dark tones with much lighter sparky tones to show the contrast between the darkness of the hour and the mystical light of the magic. And tried to incorporate elements that have a magical significance like the moon, stars and sun, and bones.

Mica flakes are great for adding at the end of a project as they help to create extra dimension and interest where you feel it might be needed, but by using the darker muted colours of grey and black, they don't distract the eye too much from the rest of the project.

I hope this piece gives you some ideas for crafting at this time of year that doesn't have to include Christmas! There's a video below, where you can see the entire process- please enjoy :)

Mixed Media Place supplies: