Sunday, June 16, 2013

Trashy Art

I don't know why I have trouble throwing things away sometimes, things that I think I might use in art.  For instance, I can never look at coffee grounds or tea bags without wanting to dye some paper.

Last week, it was tea bags.  I had made a pitcher of iced tea and had a bunch of tea bags headed to the trash.  Somehow, though, my feet took me over to a piece of art paper.  I spritzed the paper with water and plopped the tea bags on top of it.  I went about my day and checked back later.  I moved the bags to another part of the paper and spritzed with water again.  I did this a couple more times, moving the bags and checking to see what was happening on the paper.  I tried to reposition the bags differently each time--flat side down, bottom down, and also open side down, lightly opening the sides so they sat with a hole in the middle where the bag folded upon itself.


The paper was more "dyed" where I sprayed with water then put the bags on the wet paper.  I think I like it better where I put the bags on dry paper and spritzed around them.  I got more interesting shapes.  Speaking of shapes, this is what I saw when I looked at the final product:
In reality, this will most likely end up as a topical map of some kind...
FYI, when doing experiments, don't ever pick up some damp rose petals off the grass after a wedding, put them in a plastic bag in your purse, and forget about them for a week.  That is a whole different kind of experiment when you discover a bag of moldy rose petals in the bottom of your purse!  I make be able to make penicillin or something, but definitely not art. (No picture of the moldly rose petals.  You're welcome.)

No comments: