Denim

 Denim

Wanting to tackle a small piece of art that might be uncomplicated and fun, I decided to continue with a collage challenge from last December. The prompt was “Denim.” First, I cut a pocket from an old pair of jeans and used crackle paste to stencil a botanical on the fabric. Wanting to contrast utilitarian, hard-working denim with the delicate, feminine, I glued on a piece of lace and brought out my jewelry stash and tools to create dangles made from old antique buttons, faceted glass beads, and antique brass findings. 

For a background design, I mixed up some watercolors in shades of indigo and brown and washed the pages in color. The embellished pocket was then glued down onto the page and filled with a decorated tag and an old letter written by my grandfather. I loved the text found in an old book and so glued that beneath the lace.

The facing page, already brushed with watercolor, was now a fun collage project . . . coffee-dyed burlap, used tea bags, a page from a vintage book, tea-dyed antique lace, scrapbook paper, and another chunk of text that I loved. Is passion indeed like sand? This was a fun and satisfying journal spread.