Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The Lions Forest of Handmade Flowers

Luscious Lair of Lucas the Lion

This is a 11 x 14 canvas - upside down with a cedar frame. The final piece is 14 x 16".

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HELLO!!

Come - if you dare - into the Luscious Lair of Lucas the Lion.  He loves his home because he has filled it with magical flowers created by Joi at the Ranch  In fact, truth be known, Joi also created Lucas - but, of course, he doesn't tell all his secrets!!!!!!!!!!!

His story begins last fall when the creation of the magical flowers began.  It seems in the evenings, after a long day, Joi would accidentally fall asleep in her chair long before bedtime.  So she decided to work on cutting out flowers from a roll  of wrapping paper.  Hour after hours the flowers and leaves were cut - one at a time - and stacked in a box.



Then one evening, with a bit of mystical glue and creativity, the cuttings came to life. Each night the little shoe maker (OOPS wrong tale)... the little flower maker worked on another flower until there was enough to make a luscious forest hideaway.

Several months later, in the middle of the night (while supposedly sleeping) Joi had clarity as to the grooming of Lucas the Lion.  It began with the painting of the eyes on canvas... and Lucas came to life.  He gave his first roar on January 4th!


Lucas prowled around the ranch for awhile but he begged every day for a home of his own and a magical flower forest.  He said that the woods at the ranch were very nice but they just were not a forest... and his heart was longing for a forest of his own.  So, although sad to see Lucas leave the ranch, Joi agreed to create him a Luscious Magical Flower Forest to call home.


Lucas is now VERY happy at home.  He has lots of playmates in his forest - his best friend being Gaudy Geoko. All of his friends posed for the picture too - Hooper the Hummer, SJ the Deer, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Butterfly and Baby, Dragonfly Trio, Wispy the Wasp, Sneaky Snake, Temperance Turtle, Waverly Wolf,  Rigo Eagle and family, Sonshine the Lady Bug, Kevin the Camelian, Locky the Lark, and Mom and Pops Owl watching over their new egg.  Lucas insisted that he hide behind the magical flowers.  For afterall, the magical flowers were what grew first in this luscious forest!

Can you find Lucas?  He hopes that you can't see him at all.  He is a people watcher!!!




There you have it... the cute little tale of Lucas the Lion with his friends in the Magical Forest of Handmade Flowers!  Hope you enjoy the picture they posed for... it was quite the ordeal to get all of his friends to hold still long enough for you to meet them!  They are living happily ever after. 






















This roll of wrapping paper is how it all started!!

  



Here is some of the flowers and leaves that were cut out. 


This is what the canvas looked like when it was started... after I added some paint over the top.


And of course, as usual - all the wood, acorns, pecans, and even the real blue egg... came from the nature on the ranch. 

Thanks bunches for spending time with Lucas the Lion and Joi at the Ranch!!!  




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This creation was entered for the following challenges: 

Artist Trading Post - Handmade Flowers



Mixed Media | Art Journaling

The stamps used were:

Hot Off The Press HOTP 1151 - Hummingbird
I stamped him in silver so when I painted him - he lost some of the shape. 
I am just learning all the techniques of stamping... by watching all of you!!  

Stampin' Up - Winter Minis - for the silver leaves on the canvas and around the border 
(but they are hard to see in the pictures - pretty in person!!)

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Anything But A Card Challenge - Friendship




Snag Our Badge!

Lucas invited his best friends and all of his other friends to live with him 
in his new home - The Luscious Lair of Lucas the Lion! 

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ART JOURNAL JOURNEY - Bird, Beasts and Humans Challenge

Click on the Link Below to see:


Art Journal Journey

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USE YOUR STUFF
Click the link below:


Heheheh - I am sooo excited by this challenge.  I just love to sing!!!

I bet you can already guess what song this represents - can't you???  
I was singing it the entire time.  Hubby and I were laughing, remembering back to the time in our lives when this WONDERFUL song was popular.  Here it is: 
THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT by Solomon Linda
 Sing it... In the Jungle, the might Jungle the lion plays today.... 
(My lion is playing right now - not sleeping!!!)
"Wimba Way" or "Awimbawe" or "Wimoweh"

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33 comments:

Julia S-W said...

Wow! A wonderful explosion of flowers and colour along with the gorgeous Lucas of course! I'm sure you had lots of fun creating this unique piece of art.
Thanks so much for joining my challenge at ATP Exchange.
Juliax

toni said...

Wonderful! So much to discover about this fabulous piece. Going back for another look. Thankyou for sharing this with us at the Artist Trading Post Exchange toni x

Unknown said...

Your comment is very special to me. Thank you so much! j.

Unknown said...

Hehhehe - looking for all the friends??!!!! I'm so glad you looked twice - means alot to me!!! j.

Valerie-Jael said...

Wow, I adore this, just wonderful. Love how ou made the lion nd placed him in that beautiful and magical place, I think I want to live there, too! Tanks for joining us at Art Journal Journey, hugs, Valerie
PS - thanks for visiting my blog, too!

Valerie-Jael said...

Wow, I adore this, just wonderful. Love how ou made the lion nd placed him in that beautiful and magical place, I think I want to live there, too! Tanks for joining us at Art Journal Journey, hugs, Valerie
PS - thanks for visiting my blog, too!

froebelsternchen said...

Wonderful is this! Wow! Thank you for sharing with AJJ! Great!

Majo said...

Beautiful creation! Thanks so much for joining us at Use Your Stuff!

MAJO - UYS-DT

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, what an amazing piece of art! I love it! :-)

rose AKA Walk in the Woods - she/her said...

Such a cool piece of work - so much color, texture, dimension ~ fantastic!

Unknown said...

Heheheh - you totally made me laugh... I think I want to live there too!! I read it to hubby and we both got tickled. You made our day! Thank you so so much. Xj

Unknown said...

Thank you so much. After it was done, it almost seemed like I did too much - there is alot there! But I had fun creating and a lion likes his privacy!!! X j

Unknown said...

I am very excited to find Use Your Stuff. It's nice to have such freedom. I loved seeing your birdcage project. Thank you for commenting. X j

Unknown said...

Thank you. :) j

Lori said...

Oh my word - what a beautiful creation! I can't believe you fussy cut all of those flowers from the paper. Thanks for joining us at Use Your Stuff!

Tammy L said...

I LOVE THIS! What an amazing project! I just want to run my hands all over those great textured elements! Fabulous! Thanks for playing in our Inspired by a Song challenge at Use Your Stuff this week and hope to see you again.
Tammy DT

Unknown said...

I did!! I had to buy the real fussy cut scissors though - where you squeeze from the outside!! But it was good - kept me awake to watch some tv shows! Donno why but the older I get the more I want to sleep when I get in my chair!!! Thanks so so so much for your comment! X j

Unknown said...

I loved your challenge because every time hubby walked by when I was working on this he started singing the Lion Sleeps Tonight song!! Thanks so much for taking time to send me a comment Tammy! Yes, I will be back - excited to find you. Happy Valentines Day. j.

Unknown said...

Thank you for taking time to look and comment! j.

Neva Cole said...

Lovely work of art with so many layers and details! Wonderful job! Neva ABAC DT

Martha Lucia Gomez said...

This is such a lovely creation. Thank you so much for sharing with us at Use Your Stuff. We hope to see you soon. Martha Lucia DT

http://blog.timetocreate.com.au/ said...

Your piece is totally and absolutely delightful. I'm so glad you decided to create instead of sleep. I am not by the way even daring to think of the song! Thank you so much for linking to our Friendship theme at Anything But A Card this month.

Unknown said...

Thank you for your sweet comment Neva! j.

Unknown said...

Living way out here on the ranch - all creatures are friends or frenemy in some way! Of course, we don't have lions here but we do have bobcats and wolves. I had fun creating Lucas the Lion and his friends!! Thank you for using the word "delightful" in your comment - totally made me smile. Happy Valentine's Day! j.

Unknown said...

I hope to return soon! I am so so so honored to have been chosen by your group this time. Thank you so much Martha. Happy Valentine's Day. j.

Unknown said...

Hehhehehe - I love that you knew the song!!! So fun. I am so honored to have been part of this challenge. Thank you Julia. Happy Valentine's Day. j.

Toni said...

Joi ... this is a masterpiece... I had such a wonderful time looking at each and every bit of your piece. Love love love Lucas.... he's so handsome, but he would be happy to know I didn't see him at first, he was hiding quite beautifully amongst the flowers and trees. Beautiful job !!! Thank you for playing with us at Anything But A Card

Unknown said...

Heheheh - you made hubby and I laugh Toni. Such a cute comment you have given me and such a compliment to Lucas too!! Thank you. He sends you a happy roar :) j.

mytawnyinspirations said...

First of all Joi, I was enchanted with your delightful story about Lucas. I admit I read this first then went back to have a look at all of the fabulous you have created. I love how you have hidden Lucas behind the gorgeous, magical flowers and so pleased that all of his friends were able to pose with him. Thank you so much for sharing your art at Anything But A Card. Cheers, Di

Diana Fernandez said...

Wow, what a wonderful creation! I just love all the details! Thanks for joining us at Anything But a Card.

Lynne aka Her Craftiness said...

WOW!!!! Totally amazing!!!!! Love the story along with the creating process. Thanks for joining us at Anything But a Card and good luck!!!!
Hugs,
Lynne, Anything But a Card DT

Susan M. Brown {sbartist} said...

WOW - this is absolutely a WORK of ART! All of the handmade details that pop out at you with all the color and texture - AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing and playing along with us at Anything But a Card Challenges!

Unknown said...

Ahh - Susan - thank you for taking the time to comment. It means so much to me. j.