Harvinaisen Kaunis Elämä: Finnabair Art Recipe April

In an blink of an eye, it’s the first of May, so I thought creating some pretty pastel coloured masks would be a lovely way to welcome spring, May, and light nights coming.

I wanted to be the idea simple, so incredibly simple that this would be a project easily done, even with children. I had a couple of paper mâché half masks, so I did two different shapes just to show that the idea is versatile of pretty much any kind of masks.

The masks had a bit rough surface so, using scraps of Finnabair Flutter tissue paper and Soft matte Gel, I covered the masks, making sure that I had all the edges and eye holes neatly covered, too. Then, I primed the masks with white Heavy Gesso and then painted them with a mix of Impastos Lavender and Snow White.

Next, using Finnabair stencil Passiflora and Frosty Pearl Icing Paste, I created some flowery depth, following the outline and edges of my masks. The intricate pattern made so beautiful lacey outlook onto the masks it was really a shame to put anything on top, but as I had moulds in my mind, moulds it was. (Adding moulds is the part you could easily skip if you do this with kids and want an instant result!) I wanted to create masks looking like clear spring morning sunrise, filled with sparkling hope.

Using Art Noveau, Flower Queen, and Nocturnal Elements moulds by Finnabair, I made some lovely flowers and stars with air dry clay and let them dry overnight. Next day, I attached them with Heavy Body Gel and let dry again. I also added a bit of Soft Matte Gel around the clay motifs and sprinkled Mini Art Stones to kind of tie the flowers and stars and the mask together.

After I was sure the masks were completely dry and safe to start painting over with, I continued. (This is why I told you that if you want to create masks with children or you are in a hurry, you can easily skip the mould part and stick to some beautiful stencil pattern – or add paper flowers etc.)

First, I used Metallique Opal Magic Aqua Rose for painting the clay motifs and around them, next I painted the edges of the masks with Opal Magic Pink-Blue. I highlighted the paints here and there with a hint of Vintage Rose for the pink parts and Light Patina for the blue parts and blended the two colours a bit with Liquid Acrylic Titanium White in the middle of the masks.

To add some structure and depth, I mixed Impastos Dark Chocolate, Pitch Black, and Linen for some shadowing and gently painted the edges of the masks, including eye holes, and blended the shadowing with baby wipes so that the dark shadowing was as delicate as possible. I did the same with and around the clay motifs.

As the finishing touch, I highlighted the pink parts with Jewel Paste Rose Quartz and blue parts with Jewel Paste Diamond Rings and added a hint of Golden Dust Jewel Paste here and there for warmth. I only used Jewel Pastes a little, with wet brush and sprayed water to blend them even more, as I wanted soft glimmer not instantly visible. And after the Jewel Pastes were dry, I sprinkled some white paint splashes all over the masks using Impasto Snow White and very wet brush. These matte sprinkles balanced the shiny metallic paints and Jewel pastes and made the masks look like they were hundreds of stars shining gently in the morning sky, welcoming a new day.

Wishing you beautiful moments in soft, dreamy colours,

Emilia