I spent a week in Maine visiting my sister and her husband. My sister is an artist. She also teaches art to adults. That means she makes art, reflects on the process of making art, and then explains it to others. Pretty impressive.
Before the visit, I asked my sister to buy some sewing patterns for me the next time she went to her local resale shop. She ended up acquiring a whole box of patterns from a friend. Upon my arrival I was asked what I wanted to make with the patterns and that was the beginning of a weeklong creative endeavor.
First we brainstormed what we could make with the patterns. This step was already challenging for me. My initial ideas seemed boring and obvious. So we decided to try the paper on various materials. We used matte medium to glue it to canvas, painted canvas, painted paper (both light and dark), acetate, and even a plastic water bottle. One piece we painted with medium and just hung it to dry. Ultimately I decided I liked the paper glued to raw canvas the best. It had a leathery look and feel to it. The next step was to decide what to make from this paper patterned canvas.
My sister and I decided to make a one of a kind tote bag. I love the results and I have enough canvas left over to make other things. Right now I am planning to make covers for composition books, which are the kind of book I frequently use for journaling.
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| My tote bag made using sewing patterns |
Is a tote bag art? I’m not sure. For me, it felt like art because it was something I had never created before. Perhaps that is part of the definition of art, although that makes the definition very personal to the artist.
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