"Because he loved her he let her crack open his shell and push his most sensitive buttons."

Servus and welcome to today's start of the new challenge over at The Mirror Crack'd!

This month the theme is 

Tryptichs

so show us your mixed media threesomes!

A triptych is a work of art that is divided into three sections. Nowadays it is seen done on canvasses too but most of the time it is a piece of art closer to a shrine with three (often carved on the outsides and painted on the insides) panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It originates from Christian art and is mostly known with church altars that fold open on Sundays and holidays to display the most beautiful and precious paintings and show the outer (also painted or otherwise decorated) sides (when closed) on work days.

By now they have also found their way into mixed media and art in general - and to many artists they still mean more than just a certain format to work on: they are keepsakes in a way and still imply that their shown contents are highly treasured and/or meaningful ones. But of course one can also simply play with the possibilities and visual benefits the tryptich format offers.

My tryptich is made from corrugated card which I treated with white Gesso, crackle media, metallic paints (DecoArt misters) and guilding wax. 

"Because he loved her he let her crack open his shell and push his most sensitive buttons" was the line that came to my mind when I looked at the spread out tiny treasures that I had collected for a possible use on my tryptich. 

Love is pretty much about trust and opening up and it is also about letting the partner not only see your more vulnerable sides but also bring out the best in you or even bring some hidden potential to the surface. But it needs a lot of trust and caring, right? 

The broken button was part of a fleamarket find and I thought it shows perfectly how "sensitive" buttons might react to being pushed too hard. The tiny shell is one that can be found with our lakes in the Austrian Salzkammergut and I have been collecting them since I was a child. Now my son is the one who snorkels and collects those tiny treasures. ;)

(click images for larger view)

The three panels are hinged together by a piece of rough ribbon that was glued between the front and back panels of each section. I love to use fabric (especially linen) as hinges as they are flexible and soft at the same time. 

I first gave my die cut corrugated card panels (with the openings already cut into them) a heavy coat of white Gesso. Once that had dried I added some white DecoArt Crackle Paste with a palette knife and a brush and let that dry naturally (and thoroughly). Then I covered the whole surface with DecoArt Raw Umber Antiquing Cream and let that dry before I wiped off the excess with a baby wipe. I love how weathered the result looks! 

The faces were stamped onto acetate that was first treated with alcohol inks. I cut the acetate slightly larger than the window openings so I could simply glue them in place without visible traces of the glue. 

The background colours were painted in using a fine tip brush and DecoArt media fluid acrylics. For fixing my found objects to my tryptich I used matte DecoArt Decou-Page (my all time favourite when it comes to adding bulkier items to my projects). 

The winner of this month's challenge will be offered a guest designer spot for a future challenge - so why not join in and take your chance? I would love to see your interpretations of a tryptich! I also recommend you check out the makes of my fab teamies over at The Mirror Crack'd! I promise you will find some wonderful inspiration on how to approach this theme! ;)

Hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia

xxx