Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean, roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
Man marks the earth with ruin; his control
Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain
A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,
When, for a moment, like a drop of rain,
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
Without a grave, unknelled, unconfined, and unknown.

This is a stanza from "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" by Lord Byron.  It speaks to the power of the ocean and those watery depths that seem so mysterious.  When you stand on the shore, the salty air blowing through your hair and watching those waves crash on the beach, you feel like just a small part of the world.  The vastness of the sea is compounded by seeing sky meet water.

This 18x20 canvas is full of color and texture and includes seashells from Fort Bragg as well as some from our mother's trip to Cancun.

My sister, Caitlin, went to northern California with her husband (though at the time, her boyfriend), Alex.  He is from the Bay Area and wanted to show her the sights.  Caitlin was delighted by the fact that there was beach on one side of her and rolling hills and forests on the other.  One of her favorite spots was Fort Bragg where cliffs and rocky outcroppings rise up along the beach.  The ocean was a deep blue that day.

Even the photo is layered.  Here, Adrienne fussy cut out the rocks and beach in a duplicate photo.  She used foam mounting squares to pop it up from the full picture, creating a dimensional layer.

Since then, Caitlin and Alex have been decorating their house with a nautical theme.  For Christmas, my mother and I gave them decorative sail boats and faux coral.  With my recent foray into mixed media canvases, I decided to try my hand at doing one for them with one of their photos from Fort Bragg.

The background consists of art mediums that are stenciled, sprayed and dripped on.  Rolled scraps of script paper, shells, sea glass, scrapbook embellishments, die cuts and vintage metal findings are added to the canvas for texture and dimension.

I started by applying an opaque matte modeling past through a stencil of various sized circles that remind me of bubbles.  I then added color to the background by applying various colors of blue and teal mists, letting them drip both up and down the canvas.

A small metal clip adorns the top of the photo.

Under the photo I added rolled bits of paper, die cuts that look like fishing net that I distressed with Tim Holtz inks.  Then I added shells--some from Caitlin and Alex's trip but also a few from our mom's trip to Cancun many years ago.  I also added some beach glass and beach pebbles that Caitlin collected on the trip, worn smooth by the crashing waves.  I added some metal bits--collected jewelry, a metal clip, some scrapbook embellishments, coloring some with Prima's Art Alchemy waxes to turn them turquoise and amethyst.  Finally, I added some clear blue floral rocks and some scrapbook rhinestones for a bit of sparkle and a few paper flowers.  The tiny vial contains sand from the beaches of Fort Bragg and a little message.

A tiny vial distressed with a crackle medium holds sand from the beach at Fort Bragg plus a tiny secret message!

And now, Command makes it easy to hang canvases without damaging your walls or having to nail hangers onto the back of your canvas!  The canvas hangers look a bit like a door stop as they are wedge-shaped.  Just hang it with the wider part to the top and then slip your canvas over it.  The wood frame rests against that wider part of the hanger.  No mess, no fuss and easily removable for changing out your art or packing up and moving.

Texture and color are added to die cuts with sand paste, crackle medium, inks and micro glass beads.

We all think this beach themed canvas looks great hanging over Caitlin and Alex's sideboard in their dining room.

The canvas was mounted with a Command canvas hanger over Caitlin and Alex's sideboard.  Don't you just love that sailboat decor too!?

For more amazing artistic inspiration, check at Alice Scraps Wonderland online.  Don't have the time or the creativity to do your own canvas home decor?  I have an online store!

-Adrienne

Flowers get added texture with white gesso and ink splatters.

A metal key is covered in purple art wax to add texture and a pop of a coordinating color.