After you read and watch this blog, you might guess by the gruelling process I went through, why the painting is entitled “Whirlwind”! I didn’t plan on what happened to this piece, but suffice it to say, it underwent an amazing transformation process.

It all began one day at the market when I saw an old beaded dress (from the 70’s) on display. I could NOT take my eyes off of it because I just knew there was something I could create with it. So I bought it for 80.00.

I took out the seams of the dress and planned to use the skirt section. It had an interesting hem, as you can see above. And because it was a sheer material, I knew I needed to paint on the canvas board first. So I painted lots of varying width stripes. When it was ready, I dipped the skirt into a pan of watered down glue and placed it on my canvas board in a certain arrangement.

Above was the result – after a little painting on top of the dress. To me was just ok – not really working for me – so I painted away. I thought to emphasize some of the movement ... and avoided at all costs, painting over the pearls. So I painted “these” sections, then whited them out: and painted “those” sections and whited them out. But It was all becoming even less ‘ok’ in my eyes. I was mostly likely bedazzled by the bling!

I began to set the painting aside for weeks at a time. I tried adding more beads and necklaces - for some sort of contrast, but really, I was at a loss. Time passed.

Finally after some quiet time with God one night, I realized I should paint what I would want to have on my own walls. So, gritting my teeth because I had spent so many hours on this painting already, I painted the whole thing a creamy white — I now had a vision for how I wanted it to turn out.

As often happens, visions and final results do not always match. But for the first time, it was actually fun to paint the largest upcycled piece I'd ever created. I stopped painting when the whirlwind had subsided.

My thought: I personally needed to go through the wild process of this appropriately entitled “Whirlwind” painting in order to come to the simplest solution. I learned something new again!

“WHIRLWIND” 2019 Upcycling in Painting 48 x 20 inches Beaded dress and acrylic paint

As with most of my artwork, these pieces need to be seen in person to receive their optimum benefit.

WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING FOR AN UNUSUAL ART GIFT, AND CONSIDERING MY ARTWORK, PLEASE EMAIL ME or MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO SEE MY HOME STUDIO IN HALIFAX:
Email: dorothealeblanc@me.com