At the start of the month I mentioned that the "Take it Further" challenge for February had prompted me to think about the days before plastic and that I was planning on making my piece this month using paper bags.
Well, I have been doing mental gymnastics ever since trying to decide exactly what I would do - I was thinking about a paper bag quilt using the bags in their unadorned state but this weekend I decided I would just use them as a surface. I decided this would be more challenging for me and would make me think of how to use the surface to good effect.
So I have made four postcards all using paper bags - two (a & b) are made using heaps of torn pieces of paper bag layered and glued to a a whole piece of paper bag. When it was dry I crumpled it up and then lightly flattened it out before spraying it heavily with two different types of walnut ink and some water. It has been ironed flat and sealed with spray fixative. The result is a very leathery-looking surface.
The other two (c & d) are made using one of Beryl Taylor's fabric paper methods - a piece of heavily crumpled paper bag is glued to a piece of flannelette fabric, then dry brushed with green acrylic paint and gesso. This really emphasizes the texture. I have then stamped on the surface (both have calligraphy and one also has flourishes) and sprayed them with a golden Moon Glow Spritz which is really gorgeous but doesn't show up very well in the scan.
To emphasize the connection with brown paper bags I have pleated some torn strips which have been stamped and then stitched to each of the postcards. The stamping is meant to draw the connection back to the printing that was sometimes included on paper bags back in the "good old days" when I was a kid!. I would do both backgrounds again as they were easy and gave a nice textural surface. It was very tempting to use the backgrounds for something "pretty" but I really wanted to keep the connection with the paper bags this time.
Well, I have been doing mental gymnastics ever since trying to decide exactly what I would do - I was thinking about a paper bag quilt using the bags in their unadorned state but this weekend I decided I would just use them as a surface. I decided this would be more challenging for me and would make me think of how to use the surface to good effect.
So I have made four postcards all using paper bags - two (a & b) are made using heaps of torn pieces of paper bag layered and glued to a a whole piece of paper bag. When it was dry I crumpled it up and then lightly flattened it out before spraying it heavily with two different types of walnut ink and some water. It has been ironed flat and sealed with spray fixative. The result is a very leathery-looking surface.
The other two (c & d) are made using one of Beryl Taylor's fabric paper methods - a piece of heavily crumpled paper bag is glued to a piece of flannelette fabric, then dry brushed with green acrylic paint and gesso. This really emphasizes the texture. I have then stamped on the surface (both have calligraphy and one also has flourishes) and sprayed them with a golden Moon Glow Spritz which is really gorgeous but doesn't show up very well in the scan.To emphasize the connection with brown paper bags I have pleated some torn strips which have been stamped and then stitched to each of the postcards. The stamping is meant to draw the connection back to the printing that was sometimes included on paper bags back in the "good old days" when I was a kid!. I would do both backgrounds again as they were easy and gave a nice textural surface. It was very tempting to use the backgrounds for something "pretty" but I really wanted to keep the connection with the paper bags this time.
