Connecting Pieces: Home for the Holidays

Mac is home for the holidays, so I asked him if he would give me a lesson in fabric and paint collage.

He said yes !!!

To get started

Mac asked me for a piece of wood and some fabric scraps. I took him to my fabric stash and he picked out what he wanted. He needed a piece of wood so I gave him an

old cabinet door sample. He said that it would work fine for the base of the picture.

Mac gave me the job of cutting out a picture of a girl that he would use for the foreground of his picture. While I was cutting he was tearing and dyeing other fabrics.

This is Mac.

To give the illusion of a frame Mac used a red acrylic paint around the outer edge of the wood.

He let the paint dry and then added liquid leaf.

Then he took steel wool and rubbed the paints, giving an antique look to the frame.

To prepare the wood for fabric he coated it with a gel medium.

Mac placed his dyed fabric onto the middle of the board leaving the frame edge exposed. He then gently smoothed out the fabric to remove all the bubbles and creases.

Using an exact-o knife Mac removes the unwanted fabric.

Mac lays out his fabric pieces forming his design.

Now he is ready to start building his picture. Mac applies some gel medium where he will be putting the fabric that will act as the ground on which the girl will sit in the picture. Then he places this fabric onto the base fabric. Gently he smoothes and trims the fabric. Now it's time to place the focal point onto the picture. Mac applies a small amount of gel medium to the girl and gently lays her onto the other fabrics.

Now its time to start adding trees. Mac places strips of fabric, that he has torn, onto his picture. With the gel medium he smoothes the fabric. When he has all his trees in place he will trim the trees.