How to Create an Ecoprinted Collage
This is a simple, easy to do technique that comes from the heart of Nature and enables the ecoprinter to create as many as 4 silk scarves at a time in a single bundle! The results are random, unstructured and created by layering (or piling) leaves haphazardly onto the surface of your fabric. It involves one (or two) mordants, 2-4 silk scarves (Or larger pieces, folded) no plastic or any barriers and of course your dowels and a container to simmer the bundles.
So What is a Collage?
Usually we hear it in the context of mixed media Art. Most school age children have done a visual art collage at some point with tear outs from magazines, newspapers, or in painting, etc to form a single theme in a single picture or painting. The more formal description from Wikipedia is “Collage is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.”
What is an Ecoprinted Collage?
Most Art collages focus on a theme. Ecoprinted collages focus on a feeling-that awareness that comes from a walk in the woods and observing Nature’s botanical bounty all around you! Your palette is whatever random leaves are available and the technique is purposefully simple to allow that feeling to encompass you fully. It eliminates that struggle with a design element or searching for the perfect leaf!
And what can you accomplish with this technique?
And this:
You can opt to use just 2 scarves or go for 4. You can try just 1 scarf and fold it over if you are not feeling adventurous. The point is to let your inner artist take over, push any OCD tendencies aside and let Nature do her thing! To help you out, I made a 10 minute video to share! My YouTube video shows the entire process from start to finish!
So sit back and enjoy! Then try it! http://www.youtube.com/c/TheSilkThread If you like them, please give me a thumbs up and subscribe-it’s an incentive for me to create more!
UPCOMING Workshops
Find my workshops on my website! My next studio workshops are 1 day classes in Oct and Nov. Oct 12, 2019 is perfect for newcomers to the art of ecoprinting! Nov 16, 2019 is an advanced class in using color and dye blankets to your ecoprinting! “Ecoprint in Color”
Upcoming Shows There are a number of other events-shows and workshops all through 2019.
As the official silk painter at the Village of yesteryear at the NC State Fair, you can find me with other artisans in Raleigh NC Oct 17-27, 2019 Follow my page on Facebook for the most up to date news and information! November starts more traveling!
Thank you!-Theresa