Monday, January 28, 2019

Isaac's Christmas collage


Isaac wanted to sew something for his mother for Christmas, so I cut a piece of denim from my jeans-for-art box and he rooted around through a bag of scraps to make a collage.























My contribution was to cut the zigzags in the top of the tulips and to stitch on some curly gold wire that we found on the worktable for hair.  Isaac did the rest.  Now that he is eight years old he is an old hand at the sewing machine, having made his first collage three whole years ago!  I know he's getting big because he no longer has to put the foot pedal on a shoebox; a thick book does the trick.  And he wondered if he could set the speed control up a little higher this time....

He wanted to use beads for eyes so we had to do a side project for him to learn how to sew on beads before he could do it on the gift.

In the past we have just made sleeves on the back of his collages and suspended them from a piece of coat-hanger wire or a chopstick, but since this was a Christmas present I thought we should splurge and mount it on a burlap-covered canvas, which I did for him (and did a number on my left wrist by having to hold it at an unnatural angle to avoid sewing into the top stretcher bar).  Since I discovered this product at my local craft store I have been using it for various purposes.  Surprisingly, the burlap has made a good backdrop for delicate silk collages made from old kimono as well as art brut pieces such as this one.

We look forward to our next project.

8 comments:

  1. Great job, Isaac (and Kathy)! I love the way the tulips reflect the stripes in the sleeves. And what a great idea to use a pantsleg for the background!

    ReplyDelete
  2. in love with this little character. really cool

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful job Isaac did in creating a wonderful gift for his mother!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful! I'd love to see more of his collages. Children's minds are often the best at art, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is such a great piece. Has Isaac tried using a hand rank sewing machine? If he would be interested let me know and you can borrow one of mine. Children and adults enjoy using handcranks very much. Lots of control that way.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That turned out so nicely! What a sweet project filled with memories and beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a cute project for kids! I'm glad I took the time to read your description, if not I would have missed the curled wire for hair. Question:
    How is it attached to the burlap canvas? Stitched? Glued? I have never seen burlap canvas- is it stretched on a wood frame? I am happy I accidentally came across your blog. LOVE your creativity!

    ReplyDelete