Poor Mermaid...not enough woman to love - too much fish to fry.- Nipsy Russell

What do this

and this

                            and this box have in common?                        

Do I have to state the obvious? One stormy beach day last December I picked up the curvaceous piece of coral and it was screaming mermaid mosaic to me. I am by no means an artist but I know enough about acrylic paints to be dangerous. I can hot glue with the best of them & I have the scars on my pinkies to prove it. I started getting a vision for my mermaid mosaic and as I found the right shells for her hair and tail I started throwing them in my old tin now known as "the mermaid box".  I've been yakking about this project for 9 months.  My creative energy works like that.  I have to verbalize it so I can mentally see it.  Well, it's time to either cut bait or fish so to speak.


  So, I have the inspiration piece - the bosom. I have all the shells for her other body parts - fish & humanoid.  I was just missing a canvas & frame of some sort. Enter big ugly 80's condo abstract picture for $4 bucks at the thrift store.  I applied 3 coats of white acrylic paint & that ugly design is a distant memory.  My creative energy is definitely churning. I still need to do some clean-up on the shells.  Also, I need to get the image in my head translated to the canvas for an outline to follow. After that it's all over but the gluing. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

The acrylic covered as well as more expensive Gesso.  The texture will work in my favor.

The back is sturdy enough for the weight of the shells and ready to hang.

I see fins, tail, & hair