Gold

I’ve been finishing Gold, another of my Thrift and Alchemy pieces, in the studio this week.  When I started the recycling project I was going to do one piece, and a small one at that. This typically grew to one largish piece and then White Noise was developed too, as I wanted to do work in different colours, tones and moods. They were very definitely materials – led, which is what makes using recycled materials so interesting. One is warm earth colours and gold, the other white and black. I feel the need to make a piece in vibrant pure colour now; plastic bags could be particularly useful for this, although they are mostly fairly unpleasant to stitch.

Unlike White Noise, which is just being finished in artist’s book form, Gold will be wall mounted as it will be exhibited in a couple of places. I still want to keep the pieces separate, rather than as one large piece though, for easier storage, and so I can use it as a teaching aid too.

Here are some of the nine pieces on the table waiting for their edges to be painted. They are all machine and hand stitched, and mounted on canvas.

The edges of the canvas were then painted with this mix of gold bronzing powder, acrylic matt medium and acrylic resin sand medium for a gritty look.

Here are some of them, painted and drying. The next and hopefully final job is to mount them on some old foam board I have. Recycled projects can go on and on, I’ve found, as you try to use what you have which can involve more work, rather than rush out and buy a quick solution; in this case it would be ready stretched canvases.

All the pieces are now my website; here are a couple of the individual parts.

Plastic, paper, photographs, bits of ceramic flower pots, porcelain pieces, paint, natural materials, old Chinese newspaper and thread. 30cm 30cm.

Re- used fabric, paper, photographs, plastic lid,beads, paint and thread.

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