Abstract From Scraps

I always find abstracts difficult to get correct so this was a way of creating an abstract composition to utilise some of my pretty scraps and reused garments. I started with a piece of paper and crumpled it up. When I smoothed it out I could trace along the lines of the folds and use as a pattern to insert the fabric pieces.

I have used some pieces of shiny packaging material with free machine stitching, some velvets and some satin and cottons. A few shapes I embroidered into. I worked it on a base of cotton sheeting over pellon

A Little Project From Kitchen Scrap

Pohutukawa bloom from an onion bag

This little project was an early trial at using other discards (not tea bags) to create art. The red itself is from a plastic onion bag arranged so that there is a variance in thickness to create the spikiness of the blooms. This is just couched to the substrate. I added some French knots at the top of each thicker piece. I did use 6 strands of embroidery thread to encase the end of the onion bag to create a stem. The leaves are very simple and are made from using a green plastic bag cut into strips. The whole is mounted on a scrap of synthetic linen and bound onto a metal ring. I use these rings to create a range of art ideas,