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| "The Tree, The Universe, and Me" 2014, Margaret James, 40" x 40" |
Grab the Glue
I love fabric!
I love fabric designs, & colors.
I love all the fabric stores.
I like the smell, the feel, and mostly I like the possibilities a new length of fabric represents...
Will it become a skirt, bag, quilt, pillow, curtain, table cloth, or a fun work of art?
Whenever I need a break from the sewing machine I like to use fabric as a painting surface.
Stretched canvases are fabric painting surfaces, but the cotton fabric is coated with a white primer called gesso.
I have been known to glue printed fabric to the surface of a stretched canvas and paint directly onto the raw fabric surface.
I have been known to add raw edged fabric shapes and sew/glue beads into the surfaces also...
The stretched canvas is a contemporary version of fabric in a hoop. Using glue to attach printed fabric to the stretched canvas makes the designer fabric lay flat, have excellent body, and accept the paint smoothly and evenly.
"The Tree, The Universe, and Me" was created on four 20"x20" stretched canvases which were hinged together on the back. I used a delicate green floral print that I ripped into 20"x 20" squares and flat glued to each segment. The ripped edges looked softer than cut edges, The planet shapes were all raw edged too and the glue prevented any fraying.The tree was painted in with acrylics, the white glow around some of the planets was also done with acrylic paint. I added lots of bead work to the surface. This work was purchased by Novant Health and hangs in the neonatal waiting room in Matthews, NC.
Refresh old canvases or framed works of art with fabric, glue, paint, beads, etc...
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| "... I was overwhelmed with their beauty..." |
I folded a piece of ugly fabric into a wedge and cut out a fabric 'snowflake' - sort of like we did in elementary school... I glued the 'snowflake' to an old canvas painting and then white-washed the whole thing with acrylic. I scrubbed in a few colors here and there and glued a phrase I cut from a magazine in the middle of the canvas.
I'm not sure I like the bubbles that popped up all over it, but I do like the ethereal quality of the surface...
Mostly, I love to play around with materials and see what happens!