Something for Everyone

Do you have a landscape that holds a special place in your heart? Sabino Canyon has always been one of mine. I can take your snapshots of favorite places and give you a creation worth hanging in your home.  Contact me for details. 

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One of the things I'm passionate about is creating art out of what you have. Your creativity shouldn't be stifled by what kind of supplies you can afford. A lot of what my art comes from materials that come to me and one of those materials is sheet music.

A few years ago I was gifted a huge amount of sheet music. Whenever I hear of someone throwing sheet music away, I almost feel like I have to rescue it. There's a saying that paints are how you decorate a canvas and music is how you paint time.  Maybe the fact that I'm an artist and I appreciate both types of painting makes me appreciate the aesthetic value of sheet music as well as its potential to create sound. Lyrics add an extra layer of expression.

I wanted to do something artistic with the sheet music since honestly i'm not going to play all of it. The music was in varying stages of aging creating different shades. I had an idea to do a collage portrait using the different shades. My husband was my subject because music is his life. It turned out so well that I continued the process and have done many more since then.

By experimentation I've created an efficient process using a high contrast black and white snapshot of the subject. I make a to-size sketch of the snapshot. I number the pieces from light to dark which then translate to the darkness of the sheet music. For shades that aren't available or for when custom music is required I use paint watered down to different degrees for the different shades. I cut the pieces out of the sketch on top of the music I want to use bit by bit and use the leftover paper to glue the pieces down in the right places.

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CLICK HERE FOR A TIME LAPSE VIDEO OF THE PROCESS

Especially if I know the subject I am able to put key notes and lyrics so they appear in strategic places. For my daughter I found some lyrics that said "I love you" to appear in her hair and for my son I used sheet music that read "You are your daddy's son." I've put hopeful lyrics on ears and "love you more" on eyes to remind the subjects to listen and see the good in life. A lot of times this will happen by accident and there will be deep meaning in the placement of notes or lyrics where it wasn't even intended. Music truly speaks to the soul in many ways.

The fun part is when I get towards the end and it all starts to come together. I finally see the personality of the subject shining through and I almost hear a breath as if the piece is coming to life. The photos I use are not professional photos. The original one of my husband is from a photo I took of him while he was reading a story to one of our kids and smiling down at them. For my kids I used photos from when they were being silly at dinner, using a thermometer to take the temperature of our food.

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Custom music portrait commissions start at $150 and include a time lapse video of your piece.  A $50 down payment is required to cover materials. Contact me directly at madebysewetzel@gmail.com. 

Solo, duet or trio available for weddings, proposals, or events. Contact for specific fees and availability.

Resin art made with scorpions I catch in my own neighborhood. Note: due to the natural materials used, pendants vary in size shape and color and can be made into your choice of necklace, keychain or bolo tie, $20 each. Mermaid style consists of scorpion, faux pearl and blues in the background. Scorpions are caught from residential areas, never from the wild.  

Frustrated with untangling your lights? These "Bah, HumBUG"s can relate. Resin art made with scorpions I catch in my own neighborhood. Note: due to the natural materials used, pendants vary in size shape and color and can be made into your choice of necklace, keychain or bolo tie, $20 each. Holiday style consists of scorpion with Christmas light tangle background. All scorpions are caught from residential areas, never from the wild. 

Resin art made with scorpions I catch in my own neighborhood. Note: due to the natural materials used, pendants vary in size shape and color and can be made into your choice of necklace, keychain or bolo tie, $20 each. Music style consists of scorpion with sheet music background. All scorpions are caught from residential areas, never from the wild. 

Resin art made with scorpions I catch in my own neighborhood. Note: due to the natural materials used, pendants vary in size shape and color and can be made into your choice of necklace, keychain or bolo tie, $20 each. Beads and Backing style consist of scorpion and beads embedded with various colored backgrounds in resin or acrylic paint. All scorpions are caught from residential areas, never from the wild. 

Resin art made with scorpions I catch in my own neighborhood. Note: due to the natural materials used, pendants vary in size shape and color and can be made into your choice of necklace, keychain or bolo tie, $20 each. Natural style consists of scorpion with sand background. See the contrast between how it blends in under natural light and stands out under black light. All scorpions are caught from residential areas, never from the wild.