Girl's Night Out and Lichen Art

 I am looking at the Lichen art created on Wednesday, and I am happy that it is living on my office wall.  One of my dearest friends, E., invited me to create botanical art with her.  I had not heard of such a concept before, but loving all things artsy and green, it was definitely something that piqued my interest. 

                                                        (Lichen art on my office wall!) 

So, I agreed, paid the $55 for a moss art kit, and after we dined at Cinco 5, we headed over to LangLab in South Bend, IN where the session took place. There was a theatre troupe rehearsing for a musical in the next room over, so we enjoyed the music! 

Creating the art was easy and fun. We first selected a black or light wooden frame to hold the lichen. Then, we chose the colors of the reindeer moss (yes, reindeer really eat this stuff). After choosing the colors, we affixed clear glue first, then stuck the moss on the glue and let it set on its back for 48 hours before hanging it up.  We also wore latex gloves so the moss would not stain our fingers and our clothing. 

                                    (Creating our masterpieces! Photo courtesy of Kelly) 

The process that my friend and I created the art piece varied for sure! E. has a design background, so she had a photo and neatly stacked the moss before placing it beautifully and strategically in the frame. I, however, am a little more avant-garde when it comes to art (and life in general). There is a 20th century collage artist named Hans Arp who created "chance collages." Basically, toss down a piece of paper (or in my case, a piece of reindeer moss) onto canvas, and where it drops is where the item is glued. The two people across from me must have thought I was crazy as I continually flung pieces of green moss and glued them into the black frame. It was so freeing and fun! With moss, there really isn't a wrong way to create a piece of art and no way to the process. Plus, it does not require sunlight or water (think of it as leaves) and the art absorbs sound.  

    

                                                         (Photo courtesy of Kelly) 

I am looking forward to attending another one of Kelly's art sessions and creating more botanical art! She is wonderful and her website is www.kellysgreenliving.com if you want to check it out! Kelly's Green Living is also on Facebook.