Song Lyrics Challenge - Pancho & Lefty

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  It's my turn to host the challenge this month and I hope its been fun for all of you.  I love music, I love words, and Song Lyrics seemed a good fountain of inspiration for us this time.  So to wrap up this challenge and to finish the year, grab a cup of something good to drink and enjoy.

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Pancho & Lefty

Song Lyrics

There's something about this song that just carries me away.  The melody, the romantic story told in the lyrics, the dusty Mexican desert, I don't know.  But it evokes images for me that easily translate into an art journal page spread.

This song has been covered many times, made famous by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, but this recording by the writer of the song, Townes van Zandt, is for me the most charming.  Unpolished and a little flat at times, I think it captures the spirit of Pancho & Lefty more than any other.

I began this background way back with Yvonne's challenge, "Sun, Moon, and/or Stars".  It grew and evolved and I ended up deciding to save it for this challenge.

You may remember that in last month's challenge I covered over a practice page with gesso and did the October Wishy Woman art journal spread.  It was the practice page for this art journal spread that I covered over.  I love this about art journaling.  I can work out colors and spacing and lettering without necessarily committing to that page as the final product.

I painted the pages with DecoArt Media Acrylics.  I sprinkled a bit of water on the paint before it was totally dry and got this speckled look that reminded me of a night sky.  I accentuated some of the spots with Diamond Stickles for stars.

I downloaded some images from the internet for the hat and guitar.  I looked for images of a worn, beaten looking guitar and sombrero.  I cut them out and layered them.

"Lefty, he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to..."

I tried writing the lyrics around the edge of the pages.  Fail.  No really, epic fail.  But awesome opportunity to use music washi tape around the edges to continue the "music" theme.

I hid a cross in the background to represent a grave marker.

"Pancho met his match, you know, on the deserts down in Mexico...."

For some reason, this repeated lyric is so endearing to me.  I think its that little pause.  

If you'd like to hear the song again in a more produced and well known version, here it is.  This one's pretty good, too.

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Our good friend, Susan Mostek is going to kick us off for 2017 on January 3 with a new challenge.  Thanks so much to all of you who have followed with us and created with us this year.  As I look at and reminisce over all the art we've created this year, I smile at this journey we're on.  Hopefully, you've been encouraged and are continuing to find your own unique, creative voice.