East, West, Home's the Best!

This is one of my latest collages, East, West, Home's the Best. It's very simple and one of my favorites to date. It came together quickly. In fact, I made two. One as a gift and one for me too because I loved it so much!

The idea was originally in my art journal. I think I sketched it just after coming home from vacation this summer and put it on canvas shortly after. It's wonderful to travel around and see new things, but coming home is always SO nice. There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed after ten days away.

The background is a vintage map of the world that I cut out of an old atlas I bought at a thrift store. Matt was horrified that I would cut up an atlas, even an out of date one. I think it's from the early sixties. He has a thing for maps.

The house and the word 'home' are done with acrylic paint as are the striped sides of the canvas. I'm really loving stripes on the edges of my canvases lately. I like how it looks when it's hung and it eliminates the need for a frame. I used charcoal for added detailing and the rest of the words.

"East, west, home's the best!" is actually a quote from a book in the Anne of Green Gables series, Anne of the Island, I think. I've always been a big Anne fan, and it's not the first time that has come out in my work. I have a collage hanging in my room and I covered it in pages from an Anne book. I wonder if my love of Anne will ever pop out again?