Art Through the Looking Glass

April 21, 2024

When I decided to make an Art Nouveau piece, I did some research and purchased some books on Alphonse Mucha, one of the creators of the Art Nouveau movement.  At the same time, my daughter, Jaclyn, was co-writing and recording her new song “Who Am I?” with fellow song writer, singer and producer, Rick Walters (AKA Slick 2H Rick).  They recently shot a video about her new song, which had an Alice in Wonderland vibe.

As Jaclyn’s 30^th birthday was coming up, I wanted to create an art piece for her.  About this time artist, Bonita Balster Hendriks was instructing week14 of Olga Furman’s Paint Your Heart and Soul.  Surprisingly, it was a project about the Art Nouveau technique. I was thrilled Bonita instructed a lesson about this style, that way I had some additional instructions, and I wouldn’t have to go at it alone.

Upon doing some research on both Art Nouveau and the “Adventures of Alice in Wonderland”, I found that the book was published in 1865 and in the 1860’s, the Art Nouveau movement took shape.  The correlation of style and subject matter was a great fit, plus Alice in Wonderland was one of Jaclyn’s all-time favorite books.  

As for my art project, I started with some conceptual drawings. 

On a special note, the model that I used for the Cheshire Cat was Jaclyn’s cat, Lilly. I exaggerated some of her actual distinctive and unique features.  

I then decided to take it into a different direction and develop the image into a strong graphic that could be placed on items. It still has an Art Nouveau element with more of a contemporary twist.  Seen here is a mockup of the koozie design.  

I chose to place the graphic on a koozie, because Scene 2 of the “Who Am I” video takes place in a bar.  In addition, I selected the light blue color for the koozie to match Jaclyn’s Alice dress. 

I might revisit Alphonse Mucha's style for another future project, but for now, Jaclyn is happy with her very special birthday art piece. 

To catch a glimpse further into the looking glass and to see the magic, here is a link to my daughter’s newest video. “Who Am I?”

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