Onions
This week I decided to use the onion print fabric I stamped a while ago for my journal. I thought I'd try my hand at collage, inspired by Jane Davila's and Liz Berg's art and the gel medium I just bought.
Collage does not come naturally to me and to top it off, I chose to stay in theme and make a piece about.... an onion? What was I thinking? In any event, I used Timtex for the base. I adhered a photo of an onion to the fabric with gel medium, then layered a piece of tracing paper along the edge. I had written some of the ancient uses of the onion onto the tracing paper, based on a Wikipedia article. It took me several tries to get the messy handwriting "right"; I wanted the look of text, without it being legible.
Later, I painted a bit of blue on the top. It was too opaque, so I misted it with water and dabbed at it a bit. I then stamped "Allium" on top of the blue. Unfortunately, the ink didn't stick well. I used a paintbrush and more ink to make it appear darker and the word more legible, but I may have done too much. A bit of quilting secures the picture and a zigzag stitch completes the edge.
Despite the odd subject matter, I had fun doing this and am pleased with this effort. I do, however, have a few questions I hope someone can answer. First, the whole piece warped after the top layer of gel medium dried. Did I use too much? Is that the nature of using Timtex as a base? It's only ended up flat because I had a large enough piece to trim away the curling edges. Second, I broke a needle while quilting. I chose to quilt after the top layer of gel medium was dry. Should I have done it earlier? Is the quilting even necessary to keep things intact? And finally, some of the text smudged, while the rest did not. Did I use too much gel medium here or did I push too hard? Thanks for any advice you can give.
Collage does not come naturally to me and to top it off, I chose to stay in theme and make a piece about.... an onion? What was I thinking? In any event, I used Timtex for the base. I adhered a photo of an onion to the fabric with gel medium, then layered a piece of tracing paper along the edge. I had written some of the ancient uses of the onion onto the tracing paper, based on a Wikipedia article. It took me several tries to get the messy handwriting "right"; I wanted the look of text, without it being legible.
Later, I painted a bit of blue on the top. It was too opaque, so I misted it with water and dabbed at it a bit. I then stamped "Allium" on top of the blue. Unfortunately, the ink didn't stick well. I used a paintbrush and more ink to make it appear darker and the word more legible, but I may have done too much. A bit of quilting secures the picture and a zigzag stitch completes the edge.
Despite the odd subject matter, I had fun doing this and am pleased with this effort. I do, however, have a few questions I hope someone can answer. First, the whole piece warped after the top layer of gel medium dried. Did I use too much? Is that the nature of using Timtex as a base? It's only ended up flat because I had a large enough piece to trim away the curling edges. Second, I broke a needle while quilting. I chose to quilt after the top layer of gel medium was dry. Should I have done it earlier? Is the quilting even necessary to keep things intact? And finally, some of the text smudged, while the rest did not. Did I use too much gel medium here or did I push too hard? Thanks for any advice you can give.
Comments
I have quilted pieces with layers of gel medium without any problem -- except that the needle gets rather crusty after a while. The only time I've broken a needle was when I pulled too hard while quilting.
As for warping, I usually put pieces under weights (a pile or two of books) after the gel has throroughly dried. Seems to straigten it out. And quilting helps with that, too.
I'm not an expert on smudgy text, but it could be a result of smearing. I've noticed that printed materials actually dissolve a little in the gel. You have to apply it very lightly and thinly to keep your image clear. Someone else may be able to suggest a fixative to keep the print from smudging.
I've enjoyed your blog! Can't wait to see more of your art!
Loved meeting you today - what fun!
Sorry. I should have proofread before posting.
This piece is beautiful -- and it's wonderful that you thought to put the commonest of common objects into the context of its rich botanical, historical, and cultural context. It reminds me of a postcard I have of painting that Van Gogh did his shoes. It's one of my favorite things -- a vivid, evocative, poignant portrait of extremely worn shoes.
To answer your questions -- When I break a needle, it's usually because the needle has come into contact with some other metal thing -- a pin, the needle plate, or the foot -- and if I have everything right (a good match of needle and thread, no pins, the correct foot) it is usually a result of pulling too enthusiastically -- I drag the needle into contact with the plate. It doesn't take much to snap the needle. It happens more often when the needle is dull, I think because I pull more than I realize to try to compensate.
I also do the book weight thing -- a pile of atlases and art books, with leaves of parchment paper just in case the glue is still tacky somewhere -- to flatten things.
cheers,
Melanie