132 – Fun House Mirrors
I posted quite a mess of a picture a few days ago, and I wondered if anyone could guess what it was to become. Sometimes as an artist you become convinced that everyone can see the art as clearly as you see it, but they are not inside your head and cannot see it the same way. But now, finished up, it should be clear. Social media as fun house mirrors – this was something I knew I had to have in this quilt!!
I had the box drawn out that the mirrors would fit into, but I had to distort the shapes of both Facebook and Instagram logos. I looked at many reference photos to study distortion patterns. Figured if I got close enough, I would get the point across. Then I prepared a section of silk charmeuse with a watered-down solution of matte medium, to tame the slippery material by giving it some body. It also made it so the paint did not bleed as much, giving a little more control to the painting process. I drew the logo onto freezer paper and cut away the area that I would paint with blue. The ironed-on freezer paper acts as a mask, allowing the protected areas to remain white. It is important not to let the paper get drenched in paint or water as that would make it lose it’s grip on the fabric. I dry brushed on some metallic gray and white for notes of reflection.
Silk edges are prone to fraying, but I knew they would be covered with fabric collage, so I was not worried about that. I did have to make the Facebook mirror twice, as I wasn’t happy with the first one. Compare this one with the feature photo, and you will notice how the first one I made has a bulging middle that just didn’t look correct.
