Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

Not only do I enjoy creating stitched collages, but I also like to make glued ones.  The thing that’s really great about them is that they’re fast!  Once you compose the piece, it’s done.  No stitching, binding, adding hanging sleeves, etc.  I love that!  Plus, you can easily manipulate tiny little pieces of fabric that would be too small for stitching.

Green Pear, Ellen Lindner

Soon, I’ll be offering an online class in this technique.  The title is “‘Sticky Fingers:  Glued Fabric Collage.”  In it, students will create an abstract piece with a simple cruciform design. 

I’ve been working on a class sample.  These are the fabrics I selected for the background. 

The photo below shows the very early stages.  I’ve glued fabric onto a prepared artists’ canvas.  I always use a foam brush with glue.  That way, I don’t risk gluing the brush bristles together, if I accidentally let it dry.

My goal for the background was to start with an off-center light spot and then to use gradually darker fabrics as I worked toward the edges.  I knew that the “gradually” part might be tricky.  And indeed it was. 

In the next photo, I’ve begun to add darker colors.  Initially, this created a sort of reverse bulls eye effect.  The value shift was too much of a hard circular line.  So, I added some pieces with sharp angles that broke up the line and helped with the transition.

I’ll be posting more about my progress in the future.

In the meantime, you can see some other glued collages in my gallery.  Look for square pieces.

Ellen Lindner