Make it Mondays - Hands

Here is a hand themed page i made last year for the calendar round robin i was in. It was spiral bound journal with Rothko illustrations. I happened to be in a funky import store in Bolinas, a cool beach town near home when i spotted a basket full of hands made out of a plastic-y sort of surface. I learned later that they were patterns for henna painted hands, the kind Indian brides get the day before their wedding. I just thought they were cool and had no real plans where to use them. But hey, I am ready to purchase just about anything i think i might one day glue into a book!
They also had many kinds of milagros - the mexican tin ornaments. I thought - i bet i could make some of those with metal duct tape (not to be confused with duck tape). I took a piece of cardboard and made a hand shape. Then I shaped some thick armature wire in the same shape but a bit smaller. Then I covered the whole thing with the duct tape. This is from a hardware store - look around - you want the real metal kind, with the super sticky blue gooey backing. I used a bone folder to gently smooth the metal around the wire without tearing it. I etched the edges with the edge of my scissors and then added a mass of fibers to the loop the wire left on the "wrist" of the hand. I liked how the hands off set the bold graphics of the Rothko painting on the right, which i echoed with mulberry paper on the left.

I also had a round robin altered book swap, where one of the books had been cut shaped like a hand - so i knew i could use this same technique when it was my turn to work in that book. I shared this technique with my altered book group. Here are some other examples - these both used mini mirrors to add some dimension to the piece, and adirondak ink to add colour.
Check out other examples of Make it Mondays - this week's theme is HANDS.

Here is the link to the GO MAKE SOMETHING website : http://www.gomakesomething.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/.

See link on the left to Ten Two Studios for great art projects and products..