Through the lens of time

Country View Challenges has an 'Industrial' theme this month and it took me a while to get myself going on this. I had chosen the clip board as the substrate weeks ago and I covered it with the embossed foil tape but then it just lay around my craft room waiting for inspiration to hit me. I had a couple of ideas but as I went searching for things another idea popped into my head and with the help of Pinterest I ended up with this very quirky aged, industrial style camera lens with clocks in it - hence the title today. Although nothing like my finished article THIS CAMERA (click to be transported) became my visual inspiration.

Firstly I wanted to re-create the ridges around the inner part of the lens and some corrugated card came to my rescue. I cut four pieces each 1 cm wide and 14 cm long and carefully curved them round the outside edge of the greyboard smaller circle (bought as a wreath). When it was dry I gave it a coat of black gesso, dried it and carefully went round dry brushing the ridges and the centre piece with media metallic silver when that was dry I brushed on treasure pewter. Over the lower area I added washes of paynes grey, black and raw umber and finished with a media gloss varnish to give it a more shiny plastic effect. The numbers are remnant rubs aiming to imitate the exposure range of the lens - but I had to take on artistic license here.
 

On the larger circle I chose to use my camouflage chippy paint technique creating the outer part of the lens finishing off with several washes of prussian blue, titan buff, quinacridone gold and paynes grey and a touch of transparent yellow iron oxide. I glued on rusty circular pieces for the screw heads gave it a coat of media ultra matte varnish ....

.... but later I came back to it again and added some ransom patches of transparent crackle glaze and patina antiquing cream. I love the close-up detail of this.

The centre of the lens has been built up with a circular piece of foamboard again given the crackle and patina antiquing cream treatment ...

.... a die-cut picture wheel - coated with sand texture paste and given rusty washes of paint ...

.... and metal clocks and clock part also rusted up ....

 .... when put together have a very industrial feel to them.

There are two boards here with different sized circles cut out and when layered give the perspective of looking into the lens aperture ....

 ... and a few more pieces to add as embellishments - all altered in one way or another.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look and see how this came together. Something a bit unusual for me but I still had fun with all the DecoArt paints and mediums getting different finishes.

There's lots more inspiration from the design team over at Country View Challenges. I do hope you will join us and maybe you will be lucky and win the birthday voucher.

Have a great week, be creative and and listen to your heART.

hugs Brenda xxx

Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.

Yousuf Karsh