The Holiday Challenge

Our art club had a holiday challenge for November.  We were challenged to create pieces of art based on a holiday.  I chose Pancha Ganapati which is a modern 5-day Hindu holiday from December 21 through the 25th.  The holiday centers around an altar in the home with a statue of Ganesh.  Each of the five days, the family dresses the statue in the color of the day.  The theme of the holiday is to bring love to each other and to the natural world.

I made a garland with 11 pieces.  Five depict Ganesh in the five daily colors.  The others are messages of love.  Here are the five Ganesh pieces:

I painted the pieces with Golden fluid acrylics on Strathmore Mixed Media paper.  The gold around the top circle is Faber Castell gold Texture Luxe.  I also used Jacquard Lumiere metallic paints and Crayola glitter pens.  The jewels on the foreheads are vintage glass.  The cords are 2mm silk cord.

This was an interesting project that was tedious at times, but really fun in the embellishment stage.  I did some research in preparation and I enjoyed finding out about the Hindu God Ganesh.