Recently a friend conjectured that I might be able to use the two
wooden rods on a tattered fabric scroll and and she gave the entire scroll to me. Indeed, it was a mess. It was stained, ripped, and the fabric was
degraded in several places. It sat in my
studio for only a day when I set about trying to give it new life while
maintaining the integrity of its past.
What follows is a journey of rebirth.
The tears and degraded areas were mended using 6 ply
embroidery floss in a loose and wide cross stitch pattern.
Close-up
of Mended Section
Since the original, tattered
piece looked and felt to the hand as if it had been either through a fire or had been
buried in the earth, I wanted to convey a sense of hope, even in the most dire
of times. The image of a bird rising
from flames and soaring toward the sun came to mind. I used a craft knife to cut simple flame
shapes from freezer paper to make a stencil and then ironed it to the fabric.
Stencil
Ironed to Fabric
Choice
of Flame Colors
Because I used Setacolor
transparent fabric paints they tended to disappear into the dark fabric. I ended up mixing acrylic craft paints into
the Setacolor paints and added a smidgen of fabric medium to the mixture. Even after doing this, the flame shapes were
rather transparent, but when I removed the stencil, I liked the modulation of
color intensity that was produced.
Painting with Setacolor Fabric Paints
Although the semi transparency worked out well for the flames, I wanted the bird form to be opaque so I used Speedball screen printing white ink with a screen that I had made for another project
Screen Printing a Bird Image Using Speedball Screen Printing
Ink
Screen
Printed Bird Form and Stenciled Flame forms
Originally I had planned to only
have flame shapes and a soaring bird shape; however, when I looked at it, I
thought it looked more like a bird escaping flames and that is not what I
intended to convey.
In order to suggest hope,
rebirth, and elevation of spirit I cut a circle out of card stock and used it
to suggest a sun shape, a light source to which the spirit could reach out.
Circle Stencil Cut from Card Stock
Since I had already learned that
transparent fabric paints tend to sink into a deeply colored background, I
chose to first apply a layer of gesso using a hand cut card stock circle template as a
stencil.
Layer
of White Gesso
After the gesso dried I first
stenciled around the edge of the circle with Setacolor Orange. While the orange color was still wet, I
applied Setacolor Red to the center of the circle, painted outward and
feathered the red color into the orange color.
A narrow ring of white gesso can be seen and I like that. It adds another visual depth of field.
Sun
Shape Painted with Setacolor Transparent Fabric Paints over a Base of White
Gesso
It wasn’t until I hung the piece
on the design wall to assess what more might be added to this piece, I
discovered that I had printed onto the back of the fabric. At first I thought, drats, I sure goofed on
this piece but as I looked at it further, I began to like the way that the
mending stitches looked on this reverse side and how even the hanging hoop
showed the mended area. Now, I am at
peace with this serendipitous mistake.
Fully
Mended and Painted Scroll
Next I will remove the wooden rods, add batting and a backing to stabilize the piece and then lightly free motion machine quilt this piece before reinserting the rods. When the piece is completed, I will post more about the process and add photos of the work.
