Kate Bullen

I've been living in my apartment since September, and while I love the layout, the size of my room, the porch, my roommate, practically everything-- I've complained since day one that I hate the location with a passion. Because I always had the idea stuck in my brain that I was "going to move again soon anyway", I have refused these past months to do much in the way of settling in. I painted initially, and bought necessary furniture, but my art supplies have remained disorganized (still need to tackle that), and I have avoided putting any nails in my walls. Most of my art is still leaning against the far wall of my bedroom, which is sad really because it's all so lovely and should be enjoyed at eye level.

Recently it's started sinking in that I might not actually be moving at the end of my lease in August, for a number of reasons I won't delve into. So I started small- I hung a jewelry rack up to display all my necklaces. Next, I wanted to tackle the huge blank space above my bed. None of my existing framed pieces were right, so I decided to make something. I wanted something big and bright that would say "Hello! Be happy!". The end result is the piece above. Read on for instructions....



1. I started with a stack of small watercolor paintings that people had left behind at work- I work in a studio and sometimes visitors come in, make things, and don't take them home after their visit. Cost- free! If you're curious about making some yourself, the paper was inexpensive school grade watercolor paper, the watercolors were liquid watercolors from Discount School Supply online, and most of them were created with the wet-on-wet technique for that tie-dye look. (Wet your paper with water first, then apply the watercolors).
2. I haphazardly cut all of the small paintings into triangles of various sizes. I didn't measure or worry about straight lines, which I think adds to the slightly wonky charm of the final product.
3. I bought a 24x24 inch economy canvas from Blick. Cost- $12.99 on sale. I painted it with some leftover white paint I had on hand in my hall closet from when I painted my trim.
4. After the canvas dried, I laid out all of the triangles first so I could get the positioning I wanted. Lastly, I carefully glued them all down then glazed them all down with Mod Podge. The Mod Podge was also something I had on hand. Total cost of this project for me= $12.99 (plus tax). Yipee, inexpensive wall art!