I remember when Sandra first sent me a picture of the Artists’ Model piece. It literally took my breath away. Immediately my brain went into overload at the endless possibilities with this piece. Sandra takes great care in creating each one of these pieces individually, with her beautiful hands and molds. I wanted my piece to be an extension of that because I felt it was a part of me, and I really wanted to make a piece that told a story.

I found a vintage egg basket at the antique store here and when I saw it I knew it would be perfect as a base for the Artists’ Model. It was rusty and partly broken and imperfect in the most beautiful ways. I turned it upside down and placed the Artists’ Model in the center and the fit was meant to be.

I painted the Artists’ Model using watercolors. I just kept layering them until I achieved the look I wanted. This base is porous and the watercolors took differently to different areas, and I actually love that. It gave it an aged and worn look.

Her crown is made from crochet trim that I inked up a bit. I covered the beautiful Dresden trim using Patina Oxide embossing powder by Seth Apter. I glued that to the top edge of the crochet trim.

The miniature bird cage, DO YOU LOVE THAT OR WHAT?? I wish I had 10 of them. I just had this crazy idea to put it on her head and I loved how it looked. The beads on the top are a gift of freedom from the little birdie outside of her cage. My art sister and wonderful friend Chrissy Colon’ sent me those little birdies from Japan and it was the perfect size to put outside of the cage.

I created her corset using scraps of fabric and vintage doilies. I glued and cut them to fit.

Her skirt is made of layers of beautiful doilies, torn fabric, and hand painted and sewn tea bags.

The last thing I added were the metal charms with words and I will be adding more words and trinkets as time goes on.

We all have layers, some of them ragged and worn, some of them beautiful and colorful, and some of them very fragile. Her layers tell a story, just as my layers tell my story.

Supply List

Artists’ Model by Sandra Evertson

Dresden Trim by Sandra Evertson

Embossing Powder-Seth Apter Patina Oxide

Recylced tea bags, painted and sewn on.

Vintage fabrics, doilies, crochet trim, metal charms.

Small wire bird cage.