Spirit Crossings

I've recently become involved with an art group that has really given me a jumping off point to get serious and disciplined about working in my studio daily.  I've taken several classes; from felting and stitching, to creating journals from recycled materials, and learning to set up a shop using Etsy. 

Today I finished a piece for a challenge called Peoples of the Earth.  My inspiration came from Jean Auel's Children of the Earth series; including "Clan of the Cave Bear", Valley of the Horses", and "The Mammoth Hunters".  Since I am involved with a gem and mineral club, I was fascinated with the items the character, Ayla kept in her amulet and the reason she thought they were signs from her totem.  This in turn made me curious about the spiritual beliefs of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon people.

I think this is the first project that I started from concept/idea to completion since college!  I am very pleased with it.  I feel like I am starting to unfurl my creative wings!  Let me know what you think.

Materials: Canvas, gesso, acrylics, book pages, maps, matte medium, modeling paste, rubber stamp impressions, match boxes, mica, various minerals, seed beads, craft glue, waxed twine, beeswax, and marker.

I actually used match boxes to hold mineral specimens and cut spaces into the canvas to insert the shadow boxes.  Here's a photo that shows more of the dimensional aspects...

Here are a few of the details of the collage...