In the meantime, I was working on lots of stuff, but first up, playing with plastic!
Over on And Then We Set It On Fire, this month's technique is fusing plastic. So I played with this technique over the weekend, using grocery bags, dry cleaner wrapping, thickened plastic wadding and bubble wrap.
Mostly, I just melted stuff together. :)
I was interested in the types of textures I could get with the different weights of plastic; but because the dry cleaning plastic would have been excessively boring, I first put down two squares as a base, mixed up some craft paint on top, put another two squares of plastic on that and melted away.
Four layers wasn't enough, but 8 was, and I got some really nice results that were highly coloured, very pliant, and easy to quilt.
I also tried it with some white grocery bags for a less vibrant result, but in my finished piece, I layered the different kinds of plastics and some of the colours together.
I also tried putting "stuff' in between the layers: sequins, tiny beads, bits of fabric, plastic mesh and the like - with varied results - I may use those bits and bobs in other pieces in the future:
But often, the result was such a hard mass of plastic, I couldn't imagine using it in any way except possibly, sculpture!
It's not clear from the pic above - but this turned out be a lump of hard plastic that I wouldn't be able to get a needle through.
In the end, I took some pinks and greens and whites, (and little of the grey with sequins) cut them up, layered them and put them together in a little wall hanging. BSP *LOVES* it and thinks I should work with melted plastic all the time. It was fun - but that's enough for me. :)
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new to me too - love the results - and having just come the blue hare's blog, i'm also earmarking your post to assist in my textiles art diploma next year
ReplyDeleteVery nice.
ReplyDeleteI remember doing this for City and Guilds.
Plastic bags are in short supply in my house since the Welsh Government imposed a charge on all carrier bags in shops. Good for the environment. Not so good for arty types looking for alternative materials!
Welcome back to blogland Kit. I;ve been curious about this technique but have never tried it. I like your idea of adding beads and bits in between the layers.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kit. Your experiments with plastic are really interesting. I've been wondering what to do with all the plastic sacks and junk that collects. I like your results.
ReplyDeletebest from Tunisia, nadia
Hi, Kit. Your experiments with plastic are really interesting. I've been wondering what to do with all the plastic sacks and junk that collects. I like your results.
ReplyDeletebest from Tunisia, nadia