Over at the Felting and Fiber Studio, Karen had challenged us to make a mixed media piece that included something fiber, something metal and something in the paint variety. This is definitely not the way I usually work but I had started a stitched piece that I thought would work. I showed you the stitched part last week. It was free motion machine stitched on to a painted fabric background. After it was stitched, I colored in the flowers with Inktense pencils and then wet them down with a water brush to simulate water colors.
Then I started working out how I would add metal. I tried a variety of rusty metal washers but I didn’t really like how they looked. It just looked like I was sticking them on there because I had to add metal.
I liked the addition of this rusty metal wire better. I guess it had a more organic feel to it.
Then I painted the fabric with a slightly watered down Golden gel medium. I also painted a couple of layers of the gel medium on the wood too. Once that had dried. I use the gel medium straight from the jar (no water added) to glue the fabric to the wood. You can see that the red fabric bled a little bit onto the green background but that didn’t bother me. It took a couple of days to completely dry,
I then stitched the metal piece down to the fabric to hold it in place. I’m happy with the results and I am planning on doing a series of Montana wildflowers like this piece. I also started a second mixed media piece which I’ll show you soon. Thanks Karen – this was a fun challenge!
Ruth Lane Art 
Ruth, it turned out great. I agree the washers didn’t work, but the wire definitely does. I love the bleeding from the red fabric. It works with the painted flowers, mirroring the colors and watercolor wash effect. I can’t wait to see the series of Montana wildflowers. Free motion sewing is something I want to try. Another challenge! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Marilyn. Free motion machine embroidery is great. It takes a bit of practice but well worth the effort.
I just bought a new machine with that capability so I look forward to trying it, if it doesn’t try my patience. 🙂
I love this Ruth, and i actually like it with the washers and the barbed wire, they flower is gorgeous and im looking forward to seeing your series of wildflowers, after the yurt of course lol
Thanks Karen – I loved the challenge and have more plans for mixing it up a bit more. Yes, the yurt is taking up all my time but we’re in the home stretch. Exciting!
That turned out great, Ruth 🙂 I really like the wooden piece for the background.
Thanks Zed. The wooden container fell apart but I couldn’t bear to get rid of the wood. I have 6-8 pieces like this and they are the perfect size.