"Once Unlocked the Heart Will Sing"

This is the piece I've submitted for a local juried show.  Haven't heard from them yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The piece is titled "Once Unlocked the Heart Will Sing" and is a mixed media assemblage with vintage and new  items that look old.  

To make the center part stand out from the background, I used the lid of a wooden box  that was stained with distress inks.  The glass bottle is one that we dug up in an historic "dump" site.  I have used black Staz-on ink to create the image of the key. The bottle sits on top of a piece of copper that I pitted with a hammer and layered inks and paints onto.   The copper is layered onto a vintage-looking bingo card and then that is layered onto a piece of decorative vellum.

Pages from an old agricultural almanac are collage onto the faded cover of an old photo album from the 1940's.  I've written some words about love around the perimeter using a permanent pen.  My husband donated the nifty little brackets that I've stained with a mix of brown and black Staz-on inks.  

The copper-tone keyhole comes from a collection by Tim Holtz.  I was lucky enough to find a  piece of scrap metal that was perfectly shaped and colored to use behind it.  I love that it resembles a little banner of sorts.  I've inserted a strip of  sheet music that belonged to my grandmother (she played the violin) and it speaks it reflects the them of the piece..."the Heart Will Sing."