I am looking forward to more Powertex workshops as we approach Christmas and I am making lots of new products to tempt you in to one of my courses. This week I have been working on mixed media pieces inspired by the sea. My best friend recently moved to Cornwall and her son is a surf instructor so he has had my ten year old out on the waves while the mums watched and ate cream teas. Then my daughter convinced me I had to have a go and I managed to stand up. I’m am actually quite proud of myself. I always tell my girl she should try things once and then she will know whether she likes it and can politely say nope not for me if she doesn’t. She’s a totally natural surfer, her mother, not so much and no one needs to see me in a wetsuit but I may just give it another try.
Being near the sea always inspires me and I often take my sketchbook out and about when we are on family holidays. I love the ocean especially when it is rough so it made sense to try to capture the feeling of the huge rolling waves. I am experimenting with white Powertex as I really want the colours of the sea to show through. Being a total beachcomber, I always manage to come home with pockets full of sea shells, driftwood and sea glass so I have incorporated some of these pieces into my waves.
Cotton lace and old t shirts are a great medium for Powertex so after applying a base layer of fabric I spent a couple of happy hours sculpting a pair of canvases. I wasn’t sure about how effective lace would look in a piece of ocean art so I opted for narrow pieces that echoed the waves. Several coats of Powertex were needed over the bulky parts of my work to help them stay in place and then I moved to a layer of colour. What I love about this product is that I can happily make mistakes, either in colour choice or by using too much colour, and these can be rectified with a quick dry brush of gloopiness ready for me to try again. It really takes the fear of making mistakes away as I know I can’t ruin my work.
I had great fun experimenting with these.
Purple Boots x