Laundry bag turned Painting

Greetings from Dubai! I have to say, I've been blogging since July and I am pleasantly surprised that I am still around. Why, you ask? Well, I've mentioned before that it is extremely expensive out here and finding cheap art supplies, let a lone cheaper used items is quite...uhhh... DIFFICULT! So, when I do cheap projects like this one, I'm over the moon!!

 Live from Dubai, I bring you my laundry bag turned painting!




Inspirational image. Original painting by Jennifer Moreman

I first found this image on Pinterest and saved it to my "likes". It's been pinned, and reposted thousands of times. Any way, to the materials! 

Laundry bag from Le Meridien, Al Khobar, KSA

It was so soft and almost looked like linen I thought it would be great to paint on. I could have used paper, but then I would have to buy that and this bag was free (o: 

I cut it and saved the printed side for a different project. 

Two pieces. Only use one. Just making sure you got that ;o) 

Then I started to paint random zig zags. 

I wouldn't call it chevron, because chevron seems more uniform. Right? Maybe ikat-chevron? Btw if you're confused between the pattern the gas station, and military insignia, you can check this out. 

Initially I used various flat brushes for the base coat and then went over with my stencil brush dipped in water for a more smudged and drippy look. I had to paint a couple coats to achieve more vibrant colors on the fabric. 

You can see I sloppily painted the strokes.

I found the water was getting too messy so, I stopped and just made sure the brush was loaded with paint so I could smudge it around as I like. Obviously, I have very little painting experience. 

 

Vertical strokes with a flat brush.

I added colors randomly. 

Some of the intentional smudges and marks were bothering my kids so you can see in the final piece a "cleaner" look. At one point, it was more than my family could handle lol. 

I used an Ikea Ribba frame; way cheaper than custom framing. 

I don't know if the light brown I have is available in the US, but I did notice better colors online than the store here in the UAE. 

You can't tell in the pic, but painting on fabric gave the painting an awesome texture vs. the smoothness of painting on paper. I really like that. 

You can barely tell in the above pic, but the bottom of the art is curved. If you want straight edges all around, cut your fabric that way first before you start painting, otherwise you will ruin the final product if you cut after you paint. 

It turned out great! Just how I imagined it. And the hubster and kids (with some minor alterations) liked it too. Yay for everyone! So the next time you are on vacation bring home your laundry bad (with laundry :o) and paint something on it! I have a few more bags from other trips so stick around ann see what I come up with next :o) What do you think of this project? Totally do-able right? Thanks again for stopping by! 

-Debora

P.s. I"m linked up to...

Sherry

Katie

Megan

Michelle