Blueberries!
This piece was inspired by a photograph, blown up of blueberries - but for something different, I used metal to make them out of!
I started by making a background to mount the piece onto. Using a multi-layered base of Pelmet Vilene + upholstery fabric + painted Wonder Under + fused and melted chiffon scarves, I free machine embroidered across the entire surface in a controlled pattern.
I then fused on some Metallic Foils in two shades of blues and a purple, which came out really bright so I heated them with a craft heat gun to dampen their effect. Then, onto the metal.
Using ArtEmboss Colored Foil in green (a 3-mil aluminum sheet that is soft enough to emboss into) I traced the blueberries from the photograph and added textural details. I then heated the metal with a miniature blow torch to change the colour of it from green to blue. It was then painted with a black acrylic and when partially dried, rubbed to remove most of the colour but keeping enough to highlight the detailing. Working quickly while the paint was still damp, I sprinkled embossing powders to be embed into itself. Heating these with a heat gun added more layers to the colours.
The metal was then free machine stitched onto a piece of acrylic felt and cut out. Here is a detail:
Looking through my yarns to add a little more colour, I found this one that I wrapped around black pipe cleaners and then machine stitched as an outer border onto the background piece.
Then it was layout and adding 'interest' pieces.
Going through my various stashes, I found a piece of mesh that had been dipped into a paper slurry with the paper drying onto the crossbars. This brilliant magenta matched the border yarns so perfectly that I had to use it!
I made some fabric beads out of hand dyed cotton bits and stitched felt that had been zapped by a heat gun; and a small tile made out of Friendly Plastic.
When I stitched the metal down onto the background I formed it into a 3D shape by stuffing it with quilt batting - this gave some dimension to the piece.
Here is the final creation before it was framed in a simple black frame on a white matte board. I am pleased with the end product and how it all ties together.
Donna Clement is a Canadian textile artist who shows and sells on her web site and at various exhibits throughout the year. She travels throughout the world and loves to share her photos of inspiration seen abroad, with special focus on UNESCO World Heritage Sites. She is an exhibiting member of ARTICULATION Textile Group and CONTEXTURAL Fibre Arts Cooperative.
1 comment:
I particularly like the yarn wrapped around the pipe cleaner.
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