Reckless

While waiting to make the final decision on positioning what will be Leaf Cluster VI in its frame (see previous post and the comments for the outcome), I moved on to the next one. I've been fussing with it off and on ever since I held my breath and placed the stamp down on a carefully cut and arranged group of triangles that were fused to a batik background. I wasn't happy with the paint color, as I recall, and I don't think it was a very even print either (I can't find any post-printing photos). After printing up other fabric with unmixed red paint, I decided to try overprinting with that red paint to bring back some of the red that was missing in the first attempt. I came very close to landing the stamp in the exact same spot as the first time, close enough to be happy.

But when it went up on the design wall once the paint was dry, I noticed that at certain angles, I was getting a sort of glare off the paint that wasn't happening on any of the other prints. I still don't know for sure what caused it, although I think I may have mixed too much textile medium into the acrylic paint. But I do know that it has kept me from taking the next step.

I tried several things to get rid of the shine/glare/milky look that wasn't there looking straight on at it. And since the leaves were now quite red, I did a bit of stippling over it with a black permanent brush pen, hoping that it would also have the effect of getting rid of the glare. I like that addition of black, but it did nothing to tone down that glare (again, no photos).

But I'd determined that it would be one I'd definitely finish for the upcoming exhibit. Time to dive in. I'd already mulled framing over binding (it will be framed in a metal frame that gives the look of binding), and backing it with Decor Bond only vs layering with felt. I'd pulled it from the wall and was about make that last decision about stabilizer or felt when I was hit with that glare again. Arghhhh - I couldn't do it. I had to see if I could rid the glare.

Leaf Print overpainted with Marabu Textil plus

And this is when the reckless part kicked in. I do not know where it came from because I'm usually ruled by caution if not actual fear, but perhaps this is the beauty of working in a series. Suddenly, no one piece becomes precious because you have a ton of them you're going to play with. I was never going to be comfortable with it and that glare so a what-do-I-have-to-lose feeling came over me. Next thing I knew, the piece was laid out in my paint area, the batik border masked off, and I was getting brush and acrylic paint out - neither of which I feel adept with. First I tried the same acrylic paint I had stamped with, except without any textile medium - no need as this was paint on paint. It had no effect, probably because it is not an opaque paint. But wait! I'd recently purchased a few colors of Marabu opaque Textil plus paint including a red because I'd been so disappointed with how my Liquitex Acrylic had failed to pop off dark backgrounds. If anything will work, this will.

Both of my cameras struggle to capture the true colors in these batiks

And it did! I carefully painted it on and it started to cover the black pen stipples. When dry, I tipped the cloth at an angle to catch the light and no glare. I re-stippled to tone down the red a bit, and spray-basted it to felt in preparation for stitching.

Funny what I wild woman I felt, wielding my paint brush over my shiny leaves. I wish I could bottle that feeling to counter those times when I'm stuck in my usual timid approach to my textile art.

Maybe a bit of that wild woman confidence stuck with me though. I haven't spent nearly the time pondering the quilting and the color of threads to do it in as I did on the other leaf clusters. I outlined the leaf cluster in the burgundy thread but did not echo it. It doesn't show much but it doesn't need to. Then I traced around the irregular lines in the batik with my finger to get a sense for which ones to follow so that the quilting would more or less spiral into the middle rather than make concentric squares. It too doesn't show a great deal unless you are close up but again, it doesn't need to.

If I had used Decor Bond to stabilize this, I would not need to stitch out into the border at all - the main reason I started experimenting with it. But I went with the felt because I instinctively wanted to run stitching around those diamond shapes. I was a tiny bit iffy about using the same color of variegated thread out there as used against the rusty batik, but it only took a few lines of stitching to know it was just fine, pulling me away from my usual matchy matchy inclinations.

I've finished quilting diagonally in both directions now, those wonkily placed diamond shapes now reminding me of fluttering leaves which strike me as the perfect backdrop for the leaf cluster star of the show. It certainly wasn't on my mind as I audition fabrics to properly set off the square upon which that cluster would be stamped. Happy accident? My next step is to test a satin stitch that alternates varying lengths of stitch width to give a jagged effect. I'm thinking I want to add that to the edge of the square where it meets the "border" batik, done in the burgundy thread. The vision in my head says it is the final touch while my cautious side wonders if I should leave well enough alone. Perhaps I'll get reckless again...