Inspired by

Finished putting the final touches onto my little bag tonight. I'm part of a small group and we meet every 6 weeks or so and enjoy sharing ideas and setting ourselves little challenges to expand and grow. On this particular occasion we went along to the Queensland Art Gallery and picked one of the exhibitions that was on at the time which happened to be Paper Skin - Barkcloth from across the Pacific. 

The mission was to draw inspiration from a current exhibition

We made lots of notes and then explored and expanded from there. Initially I explored on paper and into my visual diary. I finally drew a pattern directly onto freezer paper and then cut out sections to create a stencil. Ironed the stencil onto cotton fabric and then using a stencil brush and Artists Paintstiks I stenciled the fabric, repositioning the stencil several times. Once I had finished, I allowed the fabric to rest for 24 hours before heat setting it. The fabric stayed that way for a few months and just recently I finally drafted up the pattern for the bag and assembled it. I've used upholstery fabric for the handles and base and hand dyed cotton fabric for the interior.