I have always loved the quote from The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, "Children often have imaginary playmates. I suspect that half of them are really their guardian angels". This piece was created with that quote in mind. The image of the buttefly fairy is my own daughter, Ella. She is surrounded by angels:)

There are many layers that make up this piece: textured gesso, thin washes of Golden acrylics, metal leafing, metallic embroidery floss that I've stiched, a barn cut from a 1944 photo and colored using Stiva Photo Dye, the hand is from a vintage greeting card, and probably the most unusual is sewing pins. I created these pins using Golden Heavy Gel Medium that I mixed with metallic-blue Pearl Ex pigment. I mixed this until it was a pasty texture then I molded it onto the heads of the needles. As the mixture dried I molded it with my fingers to make each one round, then I let them harden. These are placed at different levels and depending on how the light hits them they cast shadows. If the light is shining from directly above the shadows will be underneath. If the light is shining from the left or right the shadows will be cast accordingly. This is hard to capture with the camera but there is an example in the photo below.

This painting is available for sale - please email for details.