The majority of this week was spent working on my contribution to the BAYarts education fundraiser. I wanted to make something big, so I used an 18 x 24 inch canvas. It took longer than expected, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Here it is:
The way I see it, there were three reasons why this project took longer than I thought it would. First, I spent more time than I ever thought I would choosing a variety of different white buttons from my stash. I like the juxtaposition of big chunks of shiny white plastic next to small, delicate shells and I wanted to make sure I had a good mix of both. I probably told myself "this is the LAST TIME I'm going to look through the buttons" at least 17 times.
Second, since the canvas is large, there is an additional support in the form of a piece of wood that runs from the top to the bottom of the frame right in the center of the canvas. In order to sew on the buttons in the middle of the heart, I had to negotiate this unwieldy piece of wood. Notice that many of the larger buttons appear in the middle of the heart. Larger buttons = less challenging sewing on this part of the project.
Finally, I just finished reading this book and I think that's why I kept stopping every 15 minutes or so to look at my work. I kept wondering about the original garments the buttons came from. Who wore them? What did the clothes look like? How did the buttons get separated from the fabric? How long did these buttons sit in sewing baskets or in the bottoms of drawers before they became part of my craft stash?
If you're interested, here are the details for the BAYarts show in which this piece appears. One hundred artists created 100 pieces of art that will be sold for $100 each. The opening for the show is tomorrow night from 7-9. I'll be there volunteering, so stop by and say hello.
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