A Flavour of Finnabair

This is my entry for the current challenge over at Snazzy's blog which is to produce a project inspired by the work of the very talented Polish mixed media artist Anna Dabrowska (Finnabair). I have my lovely friend Lesley to thank for prompting me to take part when I saw the Finnabair inspired projects she has posted this week as a member of the Snazzy's DT.



Its been tough to get a picture that reflects the rich colours of the project, this is a pic I took last night by lamplight on my desk which has the warmer hues (I have tried to cut out as much of the mess as possible!!!).

I have tried to bring in all sorts of elements that reflect Anna's work and the companies she designs for, while putting my own spin on the project. I wanted it to capture things that are important to my own style too.

I started with a shallow 8 x 8 MDF frame which I covered with black gesso and part of a sheet of the 7 Dots Studio paper Night's Fever from the Dreamer range designed by Anna. This sheet of paper actually came from Snazzy's on my one and only visit to their lovely shop, so it seemed very appropriate to use it as the base for my project. Anna's projects nearly always feature a face, often her own, but I certainly didn't want to use mine so I cut into a book of Pre-Raphaelite paintings I bought very cheaply specifically for the purpose of  using in mixed media projects. The painting is Love's Shadow by Sandys and I chose it because the colours matched the background paper so perfectly. In fact I loved the match so much I was tempted to leave the frame then and there without any further embellishment, but it wouldn't have been any good for the challenge then!

Anna works for Sizzix and Prima, so I included part of a die cut Sizzix clock face that I aged with a rust effect paint and Moonshadow Mystic Malachite ink and different Prima elements, including the flowers and sculptured blooms, the words that come from a Prima journalling card and gem swirls. Anna uses loads of flowers in her designs, including large flowers cut in half. I painted a range of different flowers with black gesso and highlighted some with Aquamarine Treasure Gold to tie into the green elements of the paper. I also added lace, torn paper (the french words) and lots of metal elements in Finnabair style. I added a moth cut out from a serviette as that seems to be a motif Anna identifies with. I included red and green flowers too, again to tie in with the background paper.

I added my own touches with some nature themed elements, the bird and dragonfly charms and berries, the pen nibs and clock faces which are motifs I like to include in my work and some elements from jewellery I had salvaged. I used quite a lot of the Treasure Gold to give green touches to my metal embellishments. In the end I decided not to add any of the spraying that is part of Anna's trade mark style as I liked what I had done the way it was and liked the way the shine of the metal elements toned with everything else.  

The good news is I will have the opportunity to learn much more about Anna's techniques at first hand because I have been lucky enough to secure a place at a couple of the workshops she is teaching in the UK at Snazzy's in August and the even better news is that I will get to spend  very precious time with my lovely friend Lesley, so that will be a weekend to really look forward to.

I have to say I have really enjoyed making this project it brings together so many of the things I love to use and for once I am quite satisfied with my end result! So thank you to Lesley and to Snazzy's for encouraging me to take part in my first challenge for an absolute age, it was very welcome respite from my shed spring cleaning which is still no where near finished. It won't be touched this weekend either as I will be at Ally Pally at my favourite show, spending the whole weekend with my two other special crafty friends Jo and Judith!

Elaine x