Sugar skull day of the dead art tea time cup & saucer set hand painted ceramics

Sugar Skull Tea Set

When i seen this cute cup & saucer set i just had to jazz it up with sugar skulls. I kept the design simple with a tattoo & modern design. I used ceramic paint which gets baked in the oven to set. Available on Etsy shop Handmadebusyspider.

I love the sugar skull designs they look even better painted onto ceramics

Keeping it simple & bold with a tattoo style skull

Lots of mini crosses add to the decoration

Hand painted on both sides, one with a sugar skull & the other with a sacred mexican heart 

Scared mexican heart design available on Etsy Handmadebusyspider

one off design sugar skull ceramic cup

sugar skull design

Mexican day of the dead tea cup & saucer set hand painted by artist Melanie Dann

This months new art creations, Fine tip Markers, tattoo style art, ceramic painting & new Etsy shop. What a month of colour

I am loving my fine tip markers at the moment! You can get a real assortment of colour. The multi coloured whale was created from washing the image with acrylic paint then using the fine tip makers over the top added all the details.

New Art On The Block

Birthday card creation of birds & flowers also using the same technique of acrylic paint & fine tip markers

Dark side tattoo style art creation of a flower skull with butterfly mouth. Created with pen & acrylic paint.

Iv been busy opening my new Etsy shop with my original art work. I was surprised how easy it was. Handmadebusyspider

Fine tip marker patterns

Cute vintage plates i found & painted with ceramic paint all ready for sale in my new Etsy shop Handmadebusyspider

skull with floral headdress Etsy shop creations Handmadebusyspider

native Indian ceramic painted plate Etsy shop stock Handmadebusyspider

Decorative hand painted sugar skull tile new to Etsy shop Handmadebusyspider

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

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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

Mexican flower & skulls acrylic painting by Melanie Dann

Mexican hand painted flowers with skull art work  www.redbubble.com/people/melaniedann

Half way with painting some mexican skull art.

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This was painted onto wood, i left the back drop plain so when i varnish this the wood grain pattern will show.

Mexican Flower Skull Painting

skull & flowers 

flowers & cacti painting

i used lots of colour with acrylic paint

Sugar skull mexican flower painting by Melanie Dann. I wanted the flowers to be the star of the painting so i kept the skull very plain 

Skull bead & shell Dream Catcher, mobile, wind chime hanging art with a mexican native indian style

Skull Bead Dream CatcherWind Chime

Skull bead dream catcher, wind chime made with fabric, skull beads, feathers
trinkets & lots of shells with a native indian style

threaded shells & beads with a shear fabric

skull beads & black feathers

I used all my broken bits of jewllery lots of shells & cut up cork from a bottle 

I collected all the shells with holes in them naturally & threaded them onto string

Hot pink feathers & multi colour skull beads with a mexican style

This mexican fiesta wall hanging was made from a wire circle & covered in lots of strips of fabric