Small Mixed Media Art

Last weekend I had a couple of 'play days' in my studio and made some small mixed media canvases to sell at the Community Arts Council  of the Saanich Peninsula Artisans Summer Gallery Show in Sidney, BC.

This is how I make my collage pieces to mount on the canvas.

First I stitch cottons, silks and sheer fabrics to Peltec heavyweight fusible. I use a 6" x 20" piece of peltec that can be cut up into squares and rectangles after the collage is complete. To make the collage I machine sew several pieces of fabric on top of each other (right sides up) and onto the fusible. Then I cut away parts to reveal the fabric underneath. I keep layering and layering and cutting and cutting until I am happy with the design. This was a great opportunity to use a few bits of stamped silks I used as demonstration pieces in classes and small bits of silk and velvets that I have been collecting.

At this point I fuse a plain fabric to the back of the piece and then gather all my fun fibres and couch them on top. Sometimes I will also bobbin quilt from the wrong side with thick threads that aren't as fuzzy. When I feel I have enough embellishment I cut the piece into squares or rectangles and zigzag over the raw edges with a rayon variegated thread. I went around each piece 2 times to build up the edge and cover the Peltec.

I bought several small artist's canvasses at our local art store (5" squares and 6" squares), painted them with fabric paints and let them dry. The trick for painting the sides and some of the back was to paint the front and then hold the canvas with one hand underneath and paint the sides and a bit of the part that wraps to the back. Then I balanced the centre area on an inverted plastic cup to dry.

Then came the fun of mounting my little art pieces to the canvas, along with some dyed cheesecloth or sheer fabrics. These were both applied using Golden Matte Medium.

I put a 'dust cover'  with my name and information on the back with more gel medium. I used TAP to transfer my 'business card' info onto the back fabric before I 'gelled' it on. Then I bought small picture hangers from a local framer and hammered them at the top.

I'm very pleased with the results and have more of the prepared collage to create a few more if the first ones sell!