4" x 6" Art - 'BIRDSONG'

A few posts back I mentioned that I was making a weekly piece of art (???) because I had received, in a roundabout way, a challenge to do so. Well, I'm not exactly keeping up with the "weekly" thing, but have made more than one or two and will keep on doing it, as I am making a journal of these pieces. Pictured here, also, is my journal page regarding this piece called "Birdsong." I took this one to my Knot meeting last week and my friend, Brenda, asked me to write about it on my blog, mainly because I had used a "wierd" ingredient....wallpaper paste. So, let me tell you how this came about.

I originally got inspired to try these little pieces of "art" by the blog, allnorahsart.blogspot.com. Then, while reading several blogs....I ran across someone who said....they used wallpaper paste to make paste paper. All I could gather is that you mix paint with liquid wallpaper paste, paint it onto paper in two layers, then run a comb or various other kinds of tools through it to make designs, let it dry and you have decorative paper. I tried it and didn't like it at all.

I don't like to waste things like mixed paint (or really, anything else for that matter), so I used the paint on some untreated canvas I have. It gave the canvas lots of body and looked pretty cool to me, so I painted lots of "odd" little leftover pieces of canvas to use as backgrounds. I thought they would be nice for some of these 4" x6" postcard size pieces I had been inspired to make or ATC cards, etc. I liked the result.

Not being one to know when to stop.....I also painted some 100% cotton resume' paper, just to make it more decorative and it looks really good too. I wet it first, wrung it out to create wrinkles, then painted it. A very delicate process, as it is easily torn when wet. But, neat when painted. Well, it's no longer useful for a resume' but I don't need a job, so we're ok. Next I painted some muslin. The paste/paint certainly gave it more body, not near as much as the canvas, of course, but enough to use it in some as yet undiscovered way. Paper towels came next....well, they ARE paper. They turned out really well also. How about cross-stitch fabric....yes, fabulous results if you would like a "different" background for your stitching. Lace, yes, did that too! So, there you have it.....something new for me to play with!

I used about a teaspoon, sometime a half teaspoon (or so) of Folk Art Acrylic paint to about a quarter cup of wallpaper paste and mixed it well. I also dampened the fabrics and/or paper before painting, but not much. You should just experiment as I have NO idea what you're really supposed to do. Oh, yes, I also added a dab of Lumiere 562 Metallic Olive Green and 555 Halo Pink Gold (LOVE this) to several colors. Gives it a glorious golden/green or golden/rosey sheen.

As for the piece here.....I painted the background (canvas) with this paste/paint mixture. I'm not a painter, I just brushed the fabric or paper with some colors I liked. The flowers are paper napkins....what a great, fun thing to do!!! The lace was snow white and, of course, I couldn't have that...so painted it also......lightly. The little paper bird is one of three birds I retrieved from my late friend, Sharon Heidingsfelder's, studio when I helped her husband sell her things. I have two left and will use them on something fun. She'd love this.

Last, but not least, I just had to add some of my tiny embroidered hearts and other touches. I thought the stitching down the right side "sort of" looked like bird tracks. I know nothing about reading music, so just scribbled some "faux" musical notes so we would know the bird was singing. That's how this little piece came to be and that's really all I know about wallpaper paste. I do know it was lots of FUN!!!

"Birdsong".....this one's for you Sharon!!! pat