Fabric art collage links
by aisling d'art ©2006
Many people who begin in paper arts or quilting, become interested in fabric art collages.
I began making fabric art collages for wearable art, quilts, and pillows, early in 1981. Back then, I was using inspiration from Jean Ray Laury, Maria deConceisao's amazing book, Wearable art: Innovative designs for clothing and fibers (still HIGHLY recommended), and Fabric Photos, a very early book about image transfer techniques.
Well before home computers and printers, I was using iron-on mending tape and fresh photocopies to transfer vintage and antique photos images onto silk. It was a difficult and unreliable process, but worthwhile when it worked.
Today, we have a wealth of resources available to us, for use with fabric art collage. Here are just a few of the many, many fabulous websites that offer tips and great examples related to fabric art collage. In most cases, the links are in alphabetical order, not by priority.
Fabric Art Collage - Examples and inspiration
- Chameleon Quilts - Deana Hartman's embellished modern quilts.
- Darcy Falk, successfully creating fabric collages as fine art.
- Jean Ray Laury, a friend, and one of the great, classic voices in fabric art.
- Kathleen Field, well-known for her quilts, now working in different, collage-type directions.
- LaLa's Land - a brilliant site by Lesley Riley, a friend and innovator in image transfer and fabric art.
- Painted Threads - fabric art cards, light collage styles.
- Studio78 - Rayna Gillman, working with a variety of fabric collage techniques and themes.
- Turkey Red - including Mavis Leahy's gallery of textile collages.
- Yvonne Porcella, another good friend and important teacher of color in art quilts.
- Voodoo Cafe - Rice Freeman-Zachery's site includes wearables made with collage-type techniques.
Fabric Art Collage - Instruction
- Kinderart: Fabric Assemblage - remarkably useful kindergarten lesson.
Fabric Art Collage - Related tangents
If you're going to embellish with polymer clay beads, etc., Beckah Krahula's website, Bearing Beads, is a must-see.
- Stitching Memories (creating cross-stitched copies of photos, etc.)
- Not fabric-based, but intriguing ideas that could be adapted to fabric art:
- Oiseaux Sisters, working with mixed media. Get your whimsy batteries recharged here!
- Assemblage shrines: Reliquaries from Karen's Whimsy.
- Art that includes stories: Storypeople.com
Fabric Art Collage - Supplies
- Great silk ribbons from Artemis Exquisite Embellishments.
- Home-dyed fabrics from ArtFabrik.
- Highly recommended by several other artists: Big Horn Fabrics.
- Collage onto clothing blanks for quick-sew wearables: Dharma Trading Co.'s clothing blanks.
- Flights of Fancy Boutique offers vintage- and antique-looking fabric collage elements.
- Mood Fabrics... yummy offbeat textiles!
- On- and offline, my favorite fabric shop: Portsmouth Fabric (Portsmouth, NH).