Shhhhh! My daughters’ simultaneously elbow and hiss at me in the dark movie theatre. Ok, call me crazy. I know this is an intense scene but WOW, check out that art in the Cullen home! My mouth drops open and it’s not due to the handsome, romantic Edward standing before me. The artist in me can’t resist. The art in the Cullen home is stunning! The decision has been made in an instant. I MUST MAKE THAT!
The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the painting was “The Tree of Life”. I’ve paid close attention to the props in all the Twilight movies and they are not placed there randomly by some prop hand. There is meaning and purpose in every accessory. This scene in the movie depicts the struggle between Edward & Bella about the viability, value, and risk of their carrying their unborn “vamp-child”. The Tree of Life hanging on the wall is dominant in the scene.
Tree of life… it just struck me. Then look at what was written on the first page of the Twilight series…
But the tree of knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest therof
thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 2:17
Now I’m not interested in debating the moral value of this movie series. I’m interested in the beautiful artwork! I searched high and low, trying to discover the artist of the painting and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I would love to give them credit if anyone knows! But I knew I wanted to try to paint this art myself. It has been on my to-do list for a year now. And with the final movie in the series Breaking Dawn- Part 2 being released this week, it was time to get painting!
I started by tearing out some of my favorite passages from the books and staining them with my morning coffee grounds. A few of the dark pages I deepened with watered down burnt sienna paint and dabbed it on with cheesecloth.
I arranged the pages the way I liked and then working one page at a time, I applied a thick layer of Mod Podge to a large canvas and pressed the pages onto it.
Next I brushed on a heavy layer of Antique Mod Podge. This stuff is awesome! It instantly gives any paper an antiqued look.
I allowed it to dry for a day and then began painting my tree of life on it with white acrylic. I haven’t painted a tree in almost 20 years since art school. It was so fun and felt so good to paint!
After it was finished I sealed the entire canvas with satin Mod Podge and built a frame from poplar.
I think the piano room is a fitting place for it to reside. Bella’s Lullaby music is on the piano next to it.
I’m so pleased with how my Twilight Art came out! I’m looking forward to the premiere this Friday too.
By the way….. I’m Team Edward. (wink!)
Kim
Pin it if you love it!
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Hi! I'm a home blogger at Sand & Sisal: where love of home and sea meet! I share tutorials in DIY, decorating, crafts, gardening, and recipes.
WoW!
Yup, I’m with you Meghan… LUUUUUV it!
This looks fabulous next to the piano and I love the idea of using the coffee grounds to stain the pages. The tree came out perfect!
Wow, amazing! I couldn’t paint a tree, therefore I needn’t try… but your copy is really really beautiful. I’m also loking forward to the release of the movie here next week (I think), and I haven’t seen the “first part of this last part” either. Hopefully there’ll be events where they show the two movies right one after the other… I also love the whole Cullen house.
Jule
Simply Amazing! I pinned : )
Wait – you tore the pages from your Twilight books!? *eek*
Haha! I know! It felt bad for doing it, but they were ripped out of paperbacks. I have a hardback collection that will remain intact.
Ah, I am so glad…
So beautiful! I so love this.
How orignal! I love this and showed to my husband. He paints but hasn’t in a while and didn’t know about Mod Podge. He loves the look of it and said it’s much better than the method he used years ago – tea.
Amazing!
That is incredible. Love it.
Ok, this is amazing! We may end up with a similar knock off in our house. Thank you for sharing how you made it
Absolutely beautiful, Kim.
As the mother of all boys, I don’t know a darn thing about the Twilight series–but you don’t have to be a Twilight expert to recognize that your painting is lovely. I love the way you did the entire thing from book pages to frame. It’s wonderful!
Absolutely amazing (team Jacob)
!
That is really beautiful!!! I really love the way it turned out! (TEAM JACOB, baby!)
This is GORGEOUS Kim!!! You did a beautiful job on this piece!
I just love this! You did a fantastic job! I am going to the premier myself – Team Edward!!!
Great work. i pinned it:)
Best,
Judith
Oh my GOD, that rocks. I love a TwiHard who isn’t afraid to show it.
Okay… THAT is amazing. And I don’t use the word ‘amazing’ lightly when it comes to DIY… wow.
THANK YOU!
Fabulous job! Every detail so well thought out and executed. Love it.
Thank you Wende!
Just beautiful!! I love every detail – wish I could paint like that.
Thank you! (Many years of art school)
Oh my gosh! I’m glad I’m not the only one that looks at all the decor in movies! It makes my husband nuts! This is amazingly beautiful and intriguing at the same time! Love it!
i love this and was thinking how nice it would look in different colors for the trees, like a dark brown and make the background quite light….. thanks for the inspiration I love it.
Pam
Great tips on the Art which led me to find the original Artist, Raine Bledsoe. She had two paintings inside Dr. Cullen’s office, one white, and one brownish on the other side of that same wall. LOL saw it in a still shot.
Thanks for your version. I loved it, that piece also drew me in as it did you.
She responded to one of my two emails. Still don’t know which book she used for the background. Her tree didn’t have roots like yours, nor did she share with me her works title.
Hi Marcie,
Did you manage to find out any thing more about the original?
Cant believe its so hard to find out information on this beautiful artwork!
Kind Regards
Dawn
Beautiful job!! And such a great way to keep the spirit of Twilight alive.
Barbara
You are a true artist, Kim!! Love your ingenuity.
Enjoy the movie!
xo Heidi
Absolutely stunning! We All want one now!!
That is UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING!!!! Fantastic job!!
Well done! I too love the art from the Cullen house. I recently took pics with my smart phone of some of the art (that I thought I could reproduce) right of the TV while I paused the tivo at just the right spot in the movie. As I love trees, I’ll try the picture you choose too. Thanks for the tutorial!
Kim! Seriously, this is amazing. Absolutely gorgeous. I love the book pages in the background. Beautiful job.
I saw the tree in the movie also and couldn’t shake the idea that I had to make one if my own. I was using Google to find a screen shot and found your post. I love it! And you are definitely not alone with the want.
Kim, I am featuring this on Copycat Crafts on the 22nd and I’ll also be featuring it on Craft Gossip. SO very gorgeous!
Great job! Love how this turned out.
Love this! Absolutely beautiful!
Wow! Wow! Wow! I love it!!! Team Edward too!
ahem . . . art school?!? why did I not know this before? No, the better question is, why aren’t you painting more? Yes, yes, I know, family,kids,Life. hahaha. That’s precisely why I started painting!
It’s a beautiful piece, Kim. Lovely job. And, yes, you & I must talk
I loved the picture the first time I saw it in Breaking Dawn 1, I’ve been looking for the artist and or the picture for a year now. Your piece has been the only thing I have found close. Love your work. My husband always teases me about looking at the set decor more then the movie. Beautiful work.
Absolutely stunning! I envy you your talent!
This really caught my eye in the movie and I had the same thought as you – recreate it…. This is stunning and thanks for the step by step of the background pages… Hmmm maybe I’ll make mine after the holidays!
Would love to have this…. Would you be willing to do others and put them up for sale? Team Edward
Kim , it’s outstanding work!
I love this! It is such a sophisticated way to have a reminder of my love of Twilight, but still remain “adult” about it! I also think this would be a beautiful gift if you used love letters instead of book pages. Did you have copied pages of the book or did you use actual book pages? Thanks so much for sharing! I am definitely inspired! creativepzazz at gmail
I used real pages that I especially loved from the books. I have hard copies that I didn’t destroy, but paperbacks that were fair game.
Just saw this on Pinterest and HAD to stop in and say WOW!!!!! Not being a Twilighter I hadn’t seen the movie version so I’m sooooo glad I’ve seen yours! AWESOME piece….thanx so much for sharing!
xXx
Thank you! I think this Tree of Life speaks to anyone, regardless of the pages it is painted on.
what was your finished size? Love the art! You are very talented.
30×40″ Thank you so much! It doesn’t compare to the original artist but I appreciate the compliment.
Kim, Congratulations on such an amazing job! And for sharing it! Did you notice that there is also a Black Tree on the right hand side, but nowhere near as compelling as the white one.
Thank you
Awww. I agree, my husband likes the movies (I know?!) I love to look at the Cullen house and all the fun artwork. You did a great job, thanks for sharing. (I too love my MP)
wow I love it you did a really great job, I would love to have one in my home Great Job