On Friday of last week I took all the newsprint that I used to iron the wax off the fabrics I had batik'd over the last several weeks out on the deck and painted them all using some Dye-Na-Flow paint:
I had a huge stack to work with. I've been using some plain newsprint that I bought from Blick Art Materials to iron the wax off my fabrics. I got some really wonderful results adding paint to the waxed papers:
These three are just a few favorite from the pile. So now I've got a huge stash of papers that I can use for book making and things.
So I was sitting on the deck on Saturday enjoying the nice weather trying to decide what to work on and I remembered that months ago I had bought the book Paper and Metal Leaf Lamination by Jane Dunnewold, Clair Benn and Leslie Morgan. I had read about their technique of laminating paper to fabric that I had put on my "I've got to try that" list but never got around to it so I decided to give it a try using the newsprint that I had just painted. Oooh boy did I have fun with this technique and I'm very happy with the results that I got:
Without going into specific details on the technique, for that I recommend you purchase their book which is fantastic by the way. Actually I have all their books and they're all really well done. Clear easy to follow instructions along with great photos and examples. Anyway, using a matte medium and a silk screen the paper is bonded to the fabric, dried and then the paper is washed away leaving an image on the fabric. The resulting fabric has a relatively soft hand making it easy for machine and hand stitching.
I love this next one, it has a lot of texture to it and the color variations make it look old and weathered. I think it will benefit from some additional surface embellishment- maybe some text or...?
If you click to enlarge it you can get a better look at the surface texture.
Where you see white in the pieces is where the paper didn't completely bond so it reveals the underlying fabric. If you hold these pieces up to light they look really fabulous as they are somewhat transparent. I've photographed them on a cream background so that the grid from my worktable doesn't show through them in the photos.
These are just a few samples, I've made several more pieces before I ran out of supplies. Suffice it to say I am fascinated with this technique and plan to do some more experimenting just as soon as my order for more matte medium arrives!
oh my! Got to find the book that must be buried under recent purchases! Plus, now I see the reason to buy newsprint - more fabulous papers!
Once again you've inspired me.
Posted by: Gail | July 13, 2009 at 04:19 PM
What a great idea! We are all trying to be more "Green" with our art and this just adds to the list of "Green" ideas! The avenues for this are endless when it comes to Mixed Media! Can't wait to try it!
Posted by: Jules Rushing | July 13, 2009 at 08:31 AM
First, great recycling with the newsprint. The new technique is wonderful. Did you ever have a productive day.
Posted by: Sandy Jandik | July 12, 2009 at 01:58 PM
Super cool!
Posted by: Vicki W | July 12, 2009 at 01:13 PM
you're so clever! and yes, some text would be good on that piece.
sue, news printers sell the end of their rolls very inexpensively....
deb
Posted by: deb | July 12, 2009 at 11:10 AM
You have done it again and in spectacular fashion. Your utilization of every aspect of art form is very judicial. You seem to never "waste" anything. Wax to fabric...wax to paper...paper to fabric...brilliant and beautiful!
Posted by: Saucy Chick Sherry | July 12, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Oh cool! I wish I could see these in person, I'm betting they are much more fascinating to be able to touch and inspect.
Posted by: Terri | July 12, 2009 at 10:21 AM
These are fabulous! Transferring the paper to the paint would be great when you want fabrics to match papers. I love the idea of making use of "discard-papers" rather than discarding them. (especially when they can look like these!)
Posted by: Gina | July 12, 2009 at 09:29 AM