Art Abandonment

Have you ever heard of Art Abandonment? Well it's not where you lose all control lol. There are people all over the world who make small pieces of Art and abandon them in different places where they can be found by others and taken home with them. It's the idea of making another persons day a little brighter or happier because they found something that you have made just for them because they are the one who found it. Today's project is about some small pieces of Art that I made out of gourd scraps, but if you don't have any gourd scraps you can make the same thing out of wood.

Items needed for this project:

gourd scraps or pieces of wood
Proxxon Jigsaw
Proxxon Belt Sander
Proxxon Delta Sander
Asst. Alcohol Inks
White Gesso
Black Gesso
PITT Pens
Spray Sealer
Small Gift Bags

I started out by drawing a oblong pattern on a few scrap pieces of gourd. You can also use scrap pieces of wood that you have lying around.

I then cut out the shapes, sanded both the edge and the back and front. Next step was to paint the front of the piece with white gesso and the back with black gesso.

I then decorated the front of the gourd with alcohol inks and PITT pens. This was just my own way of expressing myself. You can do the same thing with different colored alcohol inks if you wish. By putting the gesso down first you can use any of the colors without them soaking into the gourd or piece of wood and the color not coming out right. I also wrote a small note on either the front or the back of the piece and it was finished and spray sealed each piece.

I'm going to place these items in little cellophane bags that I have along with an explanation of what the purpose of the gift is and that it is a gift to whomever finds it and leave them in rather conspicuous places around town for someone to find.
Pretty neat huh? I think it's particularly appropriate at this time of year. What do you think? Have you ever done any Art Abandonment? How did it make you feel? Why don't you go over to the www.proxxon.com website and check out all of the wonderful tools and accessories that they have for sale!

Happy Holidays
Barbara