Mixed-Media Collage

I have taken my applique' technique to another level. Recently we painted our bathroom this great apple green color, got new towels, rug, and shower curtain. All that was missing was something to go on the walls. I had these three 10x10 canvasses that I made when I was in school, and never really knew what I wanted to do with them, until now. Having recently fallen in love with applique', I decided to applique' my same designs as my apron and other projects onto a square piece of fabric. I only did the paper back fusible web on these applique's and not any machine or hand stitching since I was going to be painting on them. I then collaged them onto the canvasses using an acrylic gel medium great for collage. After the pieces were dry, I then painted over the top of them with various washes of thinned out acrylic paint. I love the golden fluid acrylic paint best for this type of thing. I also mixed the paint with a glazing medium which works great for layering paint colors.

Almost all the fabric is painted over, for example the bird's fabric was originally white, but I painted it a bright yellow to stand out. I found these really great paint pens by Elmer that are perfect for outlines and details that is hard to get with a paint brush. After all the painting was complete and dry, I then painted them with a satin varnish for protection. The varnish is important in finishing the pieces. It seals in the paint and protects it from chipping, and also has UV protection- great for any direct sunlight that might shine in through the windows.