Renaissance lady.

I have many influences in the work that I do, and sometimes one or two combine and I produce a little bit of art that I can see other peoples' art in.
This piece is influenced by Sam, and her beautiful Lynne Perrella stamping; Alison Bomber and Jo Myhill with their textures and Julie Ann with her imagery and story telling. There are probably many other influences as I absorb ideas from other people too!

I started by painting a 8"x8" canvas and gluing some fab backing paper that Finnabair gave to me. It is covered in texturised patterns.
Next, I stamped and heat embossed some texture on the sides of the canvas.
I then spent a couple of days arranging bits of card, paper, saved stampings, lace, hessian etc and leaving it for a while.
My main image is a Lynne Perrella stamp from LPC009 which I had previously stamped onto deli paper.
I wanted to include loads of texture and also to try to weave a story into my art, like Julie Ann. Never could be as good a storyteller but, my version.
I layered some old book paper, tore and painted and stained some corrugated card, added hessian and gold lace.
I wanted to show a contrast between finery and rough materials.

So, this is the Lady Marguerite, probably of French origin and of the renaissance period. (Out of my depth already)
She had noticed that some ladies had their portraits painted with symbols which denoted their lives and personalities.
Lady Marguerite wished to convey that although she was a lady of considerable means, she could appreciate both the finer things and the most basic things in life. She enjoyed both writing and exploring books and also enjoyed beautiful jewellery.
The bee symbolises the importance of communication, balance and union: the butterfly of the ability to accept changes.
She saw the importance of having an open mind in which to explore, examine and enquire.
Above all, she thought that it was important for women to stand out from the crowd and show their strength.

Thanks for looking!