"Love, love, love. All you need is love." Nothing is more true than these simple words penned by John Lennon. He was an artist who wanted to evoke change, and the Beatles were asked to write a song with a message that could be easily understood by everyone using "basic English" terms. This message is simple. There is no need to make it difficult. There is no need to politicize or bring religious condemnation upon it. Love is love.
As an artist, a woman, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a community member, participating in the Pride 2020 Blog Hop is exciting, enticing, and energizing. I create hoping to enlighten, start conversations, connect, highlight, and encourage. Today there are still too many labels. When one loves and loves greatly, one ACCEPTS the other unconditionally. We are all human beings. That is where we should initiate acceptance towards one another. We are capable of great things when we are not fighting. We are capable of great things when are willing to listen. We are capable of great things when we do not close our eyes. We are capable of great love. All we need is love.
When we initially arrive into the world, in most cases, there are no colors or labels. The focus is the delivery of a human being, the delivery of life. As children, most will play and interact with other children accepting them as they are with a desire to become friends. Unfortunately as we grow, in many of our communities there are labels and judgement based on gender, skin color, culture, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The acceptance most of us had an innocent child does not stay with many of us. We are not always accepted for being unique, and many times we are condemned for it. My hope is for continued change, for acceptance, and for love.
To create my piece of art, I used the following supplies:
To create this project, I completed the following steps:
Cut two pieces of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper at 4" x 6" and 5" x 6".
Adhere a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper onto a piece of Foam Adhesive Sheet.
Using a die cut machine, die cut the letters out using the Playful Alphabet Dies.
Adhere a piece of scrap Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper onto a piece of Adhesive Sheets.
Using a die cutting machine, die cut 4 globe pieces (2 of each version provided) from the World Map Dies.
On the 4" x 6"piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper, peel off the paper backing on the die cut globe pieces. Arrange and adhere them randomly on the Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper with two of the globes adhered slightly off the top and bottom edge. (See second photo above of art piece without color.)
Peel off the backing of the die cut letters. Arrange and adhere the letters over top of the die cut globes forming the words, "All you need is love."
Squirt random drops of the reinkers and immediately spray a few mists of water using a Stampin' Spritzer to allow the color to run down the Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. You will want to complete one color of the reinker at a time in this order: Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Smith, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, and Gorgeous Grape.
Using a Water Painter and reinkers, blend and fill in any of the background, die cut globes and die cut letters with the appropriate colors. Once the entire piece has been watercolored, set aside to dry.
Once the art piece has dried, using Strampin' Dimensionals, adhere to the 5" x 6" piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper leaving a 1/2" margin at the top and bottom. Complete your piece of art by either adhering to cardstock to create a card or by placing in a frame as an art piece for display.
To enjoy additional talented papercrafting artists, please click on the links below to navigate your way through their respective Pride 2020 Blog Hop posts!