Cameo Style Wall Art

This cameo style wall art, using a head and shoulders mannequin and assorted shells, was created by our crafts group member Margaret Barlow.

Margaret said that she got inspiration for her ‘My Michelle’ cameo style wall art from Pinterest. She kindly added as many details as she could on the post to help fellow crafters

“Bought the frame (plastic & originally a Mirror £10)

Bought the head from amazon £25

Couple of Bags of shells & various glues, found the waterproof No Nails or similar worked best (£30ish).

Took a long time as it was stop/start waiting for inspiration on placement. And often each shell would need to set in place before I could build up the design. But I love her”

“I cut the head and shoulders back so as to give her a ‘cameo’ effect. I had to shorten the neck to fit the frame”

The cameo was held in place on the hardboard backing with cable ties because of the weight.

Margaret then built up the eyebrows, as painting the head would hide the originals. To make the frame look less plastic, she dry-brushed with black to add definition. Then the head was covered with a white chalk paint.

While waiting for the initial shells to set, Margaret added white chalk paint to the frame. A shell choker was also attached to hide the neck joint.

More shells were layered and glued to the cameo, until Margaret was happy with the overall design.

This cameo style masterpiece was then sealed with a polyurethane gloss varnish.

Margaret did say that she wasn’t too keen on the gloss, and would probably end up dabbing on a matt sealer eventually.

We think it looks great just as it is!

Members of the group were also quick to express their opinions

• “Wow! Fabulous!”
• “Absolutely stunning! Love it”
• “That’s amazing. You are so clever”
• “Very impressive!”

To view Margaret’s post, and many more original and inspirational projects, have a look on the crafts group. We’d love to see yours too https://www.facebook.com/groups/craftsonabudgetoggicial