Subway Art

Subway art is "all the rage" right now. (The hubs totally makes fun of me for using that saying, but it's okay, I'm used to it.) I've been seeing this trend a lot over the last year. Not only online on blogs, pinterest, and store websites, but I've also seen it quite a lot in person.

In my own interpretation, this type of art is where you take a grouping of words, each cut (or printed) in different sizes, fonts and sometimes colors, and apply it to a plain background. These can be made from wood, stretched canvas or I've even seen people apply them directly to their wall.

After seeing this trend for so long, I finally decided to give it a shot.

Here's what I came up with.

Whatcha think?

I upcycled an old painting (well, I think it was actually printed onto the canvas). I got out the trusty bin of acrylic paint and coated the canvas with a slate color. Then to make it interesting, I brushed a little black around the edges to give it some dimension.

As the paint was drying, I decided on what I wanted my art to say. I went through many possibilities - children, family, crafting, famous quotes, bible verses, and so on. Once I decided, then I realized my scrapbook papers and carstock wasn't exactly easily accessable. I was about to dig it out from the closet under the stairs when the idea hit me! Magazines!! So, I went through my stash and pulled out a few Pottery Barn mags - including Teen and Kids. I tore out pages that had large pops of colors in the pallet that I wanted, and set them aside.

Next I jotted down the verse I settled with on a paper - making sure not to misspell anything and decide on a rough layout. To sum up a long and tedious process, I cut out all the letters using a Cricut machine. (Lyrical Letters cartridge). When they were all cut and placed, I carefully glued them on using a decoupage medium and a paint brush. Tweezers were also involved in this task. Once the letters were all set in place, glued down, and the air bubbles smoothed out - I gave a final coat of the decoupage over all the letters and over the entire canvas, sides and all.  I let it dry overnight, mainly because I didn't finish it until LATE - too late to admit in print - and once it was dry the letters are sealed onto the canvas nicely, and it's even water resistant!

I really like how it came out. Now to find a place for it to live...or maybe it'll end up in my Etsy Shop!