CHALLENGE: Crayola Challenge

Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.

                                                           ~Claude Monet

Last week I talked about the results of Art Quilt Group and the our Crayon Challenge for February (challenge colors were dandelion, raw sienna, and tumbleweed). You can read more about our Crayon Challenge here.

My personal art goal for 2014 is to experiment with as many techniques as possible; whether is it something new or just delving in deeper. So let's talk about what I created for the February challenge.  Here is my final piece:

There were two techniques that I was focusing on:

1. The rolled fabric
2. Incorporating sand into my art

First, the rolled fabric.  I bought the most beautiful and inspiring book called "Stitch and Structure: Design and Technique in Two- and Three-Dimensional Textiles" by Jean Draper.  Here is the cover:

So I thought this would be a great challenge to try to use the 'rolls'.  The problem is that I looked at the pictures, but really didn't read the directions.  I made my rolls from rolling fabric; once rolled, they were fairly stiff and somewhat tough to manipulate.  If I were to do this again, I would use something much softer and more pliable when rolled (ie: felted wool, pre-felts, etc).  Or a better idea, read the book!

The second experimentation was all about sand...yes, sand. I experimented by silk-screening heavy gel medium onto fabric and sprinkling sand on it.  Once it was set, I sprayed it with a clear spray.  Here are some experiments... 

The first one has a dot pattern made with the sand.

 This one has three loose triangles.

This last one is a mini quilt that I made to experiment; a grid pattern was used with yellow sand.

On my finished piece, I made the brown sand circles separately and adhered them at the end.  To use this sand method, it truly is the last thing that you will do to the art-piece. Obviously, you do not want to have sand anywhere near your sewing machine.  I do not think this will become one of my favorite techniques, but it is good to keep in my box of possibilities.