Water Technique

I've had a lot of request about the technique I used to make the water in the Mexico piece.

I started with a piece of cotton that was slightly wet. I painted what I hoped to be a mountain in the mist. I had it laying on a large sheet of paper and left it overnight. When I went back to the dried cotton the whole design had morphed into what I thought looked like water. The paper was quit beautiful as well. When I needed a fabric for the waterfall in this piece I thought of the hand painted cotton.

The painted cotton became the foundations fabric. I then added rocks. I felt that I needed a more shiny surface so I used a shimmery organza. Under the organza I strategically placed yarn that I had stripped into small pieces. I used a blue-green yarn that was twisted as well as a white yard that was fat in one place and skinny in another. I raveled the yarn until I had what I wanted to make the water look as if it were falling over the falls.

I used Misty Fuse on the back of the organza and fused over the rocks, yarn and painted fabric. Misty Fuse works beautifully for this technique because you can see it through the organza and it adds texture. I love Misty Fuse for lots of reasons but the biggest asset for me is that I can lift it without any trouble until I am ready to give it a final set.

I painted around the edge of the water to get a muddy look. I also painted around the rocks.

I hope this answers our questions. If not send me an email and I will try to answer your questions.