GALAXY HIPPO

This is more recent than many of the items I've posted recently and will share in the next few weeks, but I just couldn't wait to share it any longer!

HGTV Handmade released this video by Meg Allan Cole several years ago, and I admired it because it used a canvas in a way I hadn't ever considered. The clean black and white look is fine if that's your style, but I like a little more color. I thought, "It kind of looks like a constellation; why not make it on a galaxy?" Of course, I'd never painted a galaxy before, so I did lots of research on that, and here's my first ever galaxy painting:

It was so much fun to paint, and it's really not very hard. It takes patience and a lot of layers, but it's a very forgiving craft.

Next, I spent a few hours adapting a picture of a hippo to make it 'geometric', and here's the final result:

I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

This goes straight into my Top 10 favorite things I've ever made.

Love and Hippos,

Leah Joy

Wall Art

These were gifts for friends.

To make this one, I painted the canvas in all sorts of crazy colors and patterns. After that dried completely, I applied letter stickers and spray painted the whole thing white. After that dried, I removed the stickers and touched up the text with some colored Sharpies. I added the attribution in gold Sharpie paint pen, and sprayed the whole thing with clear coat.

To make this one, I painted half the canvas gold. After that dried, I applied letter stickers and painted the whole canvas lavender. After that dried, I added brush strokes in various colors. And after that dried, I removed the stickers and touched up the letters with a gold paint pen. Then a clear coat to seal.

And on a lighter note:

Love and Paint,

Leah Joy