Recent work has included quite a bit of deconstructing and reconstructing, salvaging works in progress or finished works that I didn’t consider up to par. With Sky Leaves I’ve begun to upcycle the hefty pile of ecoprints that didn’t quite make it or were experiments gone awry and recycle them as canvases for fabric painting incorporating some of the leaf prints as painted appliques. These leaves are a fern, an apple leaf and some rosa rugosas, all from my back yard perimeter of woods.

Free motion quilting was done either before and/or after the paint was applied in darker values to outline and define the leaves and some veining. Overall, I prefer a loosely expressionist look, so the paint style and composition reflects my most consistent voice along with a barely perceptible addition of text in the form of asemic style writing, both printed and ink pen.

Since I also have a stash of commercial prints, I used one small flower cut out from that as an applique from the same fabric for a backing.

I used fabric paints to begin with but switched to acrylic paints to create more depth and saturation, sometimes combined with satin or matte mediums as well as some glazes.

I chose to bind the edges to contain the images as a framed painting, using Sue Bliewies’s technique because it makes such a good, flat binding and added a second layer to it to make a 12” square. The binding is ecoprinted but not painted.

I’m pleased with the results of this “waste not, want not” mode. Comments here are encouraged! Although this is finished, critiques are welcome because there’s always something to learn to bring to the next one!

Linking up with Off The Wall Friday!