One of the things I love to do most is shadow work. This isn't some scary magical thing.
It is all about self awareness, sitting with your thoughts, acknowledging them, learning from them and growing.
 
I teach it in my adult classes and it is a big part of who I am.
 
I added the words "Don't be afraid of your shadow" as a reminder to you to not dwell on the past, learn the lessons and move forward. All the answers you seek are inside you. You just have to be still and listen.
 
The way the paper is attached to the canvas causes shadows.
 
She is a reminder to you that you are strong.
 
Take a look at my blogs about Manifesting and Intention setting to get started. Message me with your questions. I'd love to answer them.
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I was online and came across some beautiful face stamps that I wanted to try. It took ages for them to arrive from America but I was so excited to give them a go. They are a basic outline then you can turn them into whatever you like.
 
I painted her and stuffed I up and painted over her again. I wanted to have a go at using darker skin tones. I cut her out.
 
I had a tonne of geli printed paper I had made a while back and it was killing me trying to find the best background for her. I did a poll on Facebook and Instagram but everyone had different ideas, there was no clear winner. I knew I wanted the gold paper as the main background.
I love to use old hardcover books in my collage, so added those in the mix.
I ended up deciding on this beautiful turquoise which looked like trees. The black moon is from another stencil  which I highlighted in white pen.

I tore the book pages into tree and branch like shapes.
I tried to find pages with  words I liked for example  "intention", "incantation", "gritty", "moonlight" and "silence".
 
There was a theme beginning to appear.
 
I stapled the gold paper to the canvas. I didn't want to glue it flat, I wanted there to be light ripples which caused shadows in the light. Everything else I glued down.
 
The last steps I did were to add some french knots to hold down the flowers in her hair, stuck the  black and white thread down the side and added lots of pen work to her face and the trees.
 
This artwork would look beautiful in a floating timber frame.
 
Mixed media on canvas.
Measures 41.3x 30.5 x1cm
 
Scroll through to see close ups, progress shots and in situ.