Up to My Neck in Scraps

 For the last few weeks, I’ve been up to my neck in scraps!  I’m teaching art to a group of teenagers and preparing for our glued fabric collages.  That takes  a lot of fabric!

Click any image for a larger view3a--scraps-on-floor

I asked my fiber art friends for scraps and they were very generous.  But, then I had to go through all those donations, culling the fabrics that didn’t work, and cutting to size those that did.

3a---stacks-on-table

 Now, it’s time for the students to select the fabrics they want to use, so I’m bagging them up by color.  Which takes a  lot of time!

Some of the students indicated in advance what colors they wanted for their backgrounds and foregrounds and I’ve created custom bags for them.

 

3a--scraps-in-tubs

The remaining students will get to choose two bags of fabrics in the colors of their choice.

3a--bags-of-scraps

Finally, I’m seeing the light at the end of all this scrapping. 

In class this week, the students will start creating their glued collages, working with a theme of imaginary plants.   We’ve already done a lot of brainstorming and sketching on that topic, so they should be off and running.

Teaching art to teenagers is way more work than I anticipated, but I’m definitely enjoying it!

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  Related post:  Designing with Teenagers