Sugar skull day of the dead, Dia de los moertos mexican face paint painting & sketch

Sugar skull day of the dead inspired art work by Melanie Dann

Day of the dead or Dia de Los Moertos is a celebration of the dead. It is a mixture of spanish catholic & native Aztec beliefs /traditions. I love the romance & the idea of celebrating the dead rarther than being sad. It is a colourful celebration of life that i find fascinating.

Part of the day of the dead tradition is to paint the face like a skull in remembrance of the dead & helps overcome the fear of death & celebrate life. Flowers are also a big symbol used, in particular the Marigold as the strong scent is believed to guide the souls of the dead back to earth on this celebration day.

Skull Day of the dead woman's painted face art by Melanie Dann

Hand drawn Mexican inspired skull face painted woman created with pencil & shaded with acrylic paint & charcoal on paper

Art by Melaine Dann called ''Sisters" sugar skull mexican celebration face painting 

sugar skull art 

Sisters mexican skull inspired art 

Hand painted Henna tattoo inspired glass vase, candle holder using glossies high gloss acrylic enamel

zazzle.com.au/Handmadebusyspider*

Hand painted henna tattoo style vase using glass enamel paint

I loved painting this vase i was going for a floral henna tattoo style & the patterns really worked well with the candle reflections.

Hand Painted Glass Vase

I got the glass paint from a craft store. The paint i used is called Glossies, its a high gloss acrylic enamel paint. I used black but they do all kinds of colours. East to use you just clean the surface of the glass & paint directly on. To set it on the glass leave to dry for 24 hours & bake in the oven for 45mins at 163 degrees.
This paint can be used on glass, ceramic & primed metal (not to be used on shower tiles or with food contact so not for plate decorating)

Henna style design

glass paint on vase

This is the design reflecting as a shadow from the candle light

I used a thick layer around the top of the vase, dripping it around the top edge

I love the layers you get from painting the entire vase, it gives a great effect

Flowers & symbols hand painted onto glass

I painted plant roots at the top & bottom of the vase 

glass paint

painted vase with tattoo pattern design