By Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
I once thought of myself as a traditional crafter. I used to always knit and crochet with yarn, and sew and stitch on fabric.
Then I learned to break the rules and have since seized the creative license to make art with everything.
Before I graduated from Central Michigan University with a journalism degree, I took then-visiting artist Katherine Shaughnessy's fiber art class. As a class we studied traditional crafts while incorporating those techniques into the creation of art with nontraditional materials. Now I knit and crochet with fabric and wire. I weave newspaper and type on fabric.
These artistic expressions my seem impractical, and that's okay. The point is to experiment and test materials to stretch your creative mind beyond the limits of tradition. I recently paged through the binder of 4 x 6" samples that I created in Katherine's class back in 1998. At the time I was a fish-out-of-water journalism major learning to swim in the art department. It was an absolute blast to test out the materials and see what emerged.
My binder contains numerous samples including:
- knitted swatches of the ink-stained string that was used to bundle my college newspaper
- dried flowers on vinyl coated with decoupage medium
- magazine collages covered with plastic wrap and painted with wax
- baked bananas glued to brown paper covered with a decoupage matte finish. (I can't explain this one : )
- a paper doily embroidered with cotton thread to a piece of fabric
- potpourri seeds on cardboard coated with decoupage medium
- a piece of a cracked yellow road stripe that I found on the side of a campus street and glued to black fabric
- a piece of brown paper bag with a curious hole burned through it
- a hand quilted mini-quilt (my favorite sample)
If some of this stuff sounds bizarre, it's because it is. The idea is to push yourself to try combinations of materials and hopefully create something really fantastic that you can refer back to later.
Here's what you need to make a binder of your own interesting samples:
Materials: Gather up all your art and craft supplies and use what you have around your home. If you get into this sampling exercise, head over to your local hardware store and add some goodies to your collection of supplies. Here's a general list to get you started:
You'll need:
a 3-ring binder
plastic sleeves (to store and label your samples)
masking tape or address labels to label stick to the plastic sleeves to label your work
Any combination of the following materials:
glue
starch
crayons
wax
decoupage medium
fabric scraps
old magazines, newspapers
wax paper
tea bags or Kool-Aid (for dying)
string
yarn
wire
clear vinyl
needle & thread
embroidery floss
knitting needles & or crochet hooks
scissors
wire mesh and any other goodies you can find at your local hardware store.
various found objects
Instructions:
Sit down and make as many 4x6" samples as you can by combining your materials in any way that strikes you. As you work continue to ask yourself what would happen if you combine material x with material y and create to find out.
The key is to take notes along the way so you can recreate your sample in a larger piece at a later date if you desire. For each sample, note all the materials you used and where you found them.
Here are some more ideas to get you started:
- dye fabric scraps or paper with tea bags
- make a paper quilt with wire and bead embellishments
- layer string or yarn on a piece of wax paper and apply starch to form a sturdy swatch
Keep adding to your sample book and keep it handy so you can page through when you're looking for inspiration for you next art project.
Have fun!