An Experiment With Plaster, Watercolors, Fabric and Embroidery.. Or Fresco Embroidery..

Ever since I dived into Plaster Studio: Mixed-Media Techniques for Painting, Casting and Carving, I've been experimenting with adding plaster to my repertoire. I have absolutely loved including plaster into my work, but I've been searching for ways to marry it with fabric. In the book there are a few projects that use it with burlap to create some beautiful pieces, but it wasn't quite me. I didn't want the fabric to simply be a substrate, I wanted it to breathe and have a relationship with the final piece. I have a number of ideas I want to explore with different fabrics and types of plaster (gesso, joint compound, plaster of paris, etc), but I'm so excited and I wanted to share my first piece with you.

This piece started with a single piece of linen and was frosted with a thin layer of joint compound. Once it set, I painted the background with a wash of watercolors. Then with perle cotton, I embroidered a primitive design of two homes. To add stability and color to the project, the piece was then deconstructed and hand sewn on to another piece of linen. Once it was secure, I free motioned it all together with a flannel batting and heavy canvas back.

It is delicate, simple and thoughtful. This piece is a gift and has a long story behind it.

It is the start to hopefully many more "fresco embroideries". I love the texture and fragility of it, though I hope I can find the right combination that will allow more detailed embroidery without impacting the plaster too much.

A Shallow Carved Mixed Media Mirror

A few months ago I picked up Plaster Studio: Mixed-Media Techniques for Painting, Casting and Carving with the hopes of learning some new mixed media techniques. And boy did I ever! It is rare these days that I find a book that I want to completely devour and every page has insightful new techniques. If you don't have this book in your library at home, you need to. It's pure awesome.

Two weeks ago I had reached a mental block with sewing and needed to move into a different media. I started playing with plaster and didn't stop. Then to top off my excitement with a bit of heartbreak, I read online that Jenny Doh was hosting Stephanie Lee, one of the authors, to teach a class on her book. Oy. Some days I miss my California home badly, those days usually coincide with Jenny's class announcements. From all the pictures on Instagram from that class, yeah I was bummed! I decided that I would pretend to be at the class and join in on the fun.

I brought out this plastered wood mirror that I had started and just went to town on it. Layers of burnt umber, mustard yellow and evergreen. Then a shallow carving of a single feather. And yes, I sweated over that one. I figured I had one good try to make it right or I'd be back to square one. Luckily I didn't choke and I'm pretty happy with it.

I thought it needed a little something extra, I decided to carve a small word of inspiration.. "fly".

Though I'm sure it doesn't compare to taking a class with Stephanie, it was still so much fun to make. I just added the mirror to my Etsy site if you are interested.