This week's giveaway is fancy.
I fashioned "La Modiste (The Hat Maker)" after a photograph of my grandmother who used to be - you guessed it - a hat maker in Dunkirk, France.
She did not look like the drawing I made but she did win the annual St. Catherine day hat competition when she was young.
This piece is the illustration to the 8th story published of Project 105.
The artwork, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2", uses pen and ink, collage, my favorite new custom blend of metallic paint and, thanks to the advice of Master Embroider Mary Martin, a fancy hand-embroidered background.
The artwork is framed in one of three adorable vintage gold frames that I recently rescued just for this purpose.
Update: The hat maker was donated to Marlise L. of Bowling Green, OH on July 31, 2017
"I find your flash fiction, and the art-giveaway inspiring. This piece speaks to me because of the grandmother and the hat. I have a couple of old hats from my great aunt and my grandmother - they were the pieces I selected after they died - fond memories of playing dress-up, and relics from another time. The fact that you added embroidery adds to my interests as my grandmother is the one who taught me basic embroidery. Mostly it was to keep my sister and I quiet and occupied but it provided me an opportunity to learn something new. I had never actually see embroidery as an art form and so intricately done until I was introduced to Mary Martin's work by a mutual friend from high school. It is neat that your connection with other artists keeps your work moving forward in new directions. Marlise L."