Cecilia Swatton: Part 3 of Stained Stencils as Collage Pieces in Mixed-Media Art

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Part 3 of Stained Stencils as Collage Pieces in Mixed-Media Art

First: A recap of my method for adding stained stencils (as collage elements) to substrates; this approach works with stretched canvas and other sturdy substrates. It would not work with thin substrates such as printer paper.

You can enlarge any of these images, to better see details.

I always set aside the prettiest of my paint-stained StencilGirl stencils; then I (1) order new replacements! -- and (2) cut apart the stained stencils for use as collage elements. Usually these pieces serve as the final step on a background of acrylic paints on stretched canvas. Other times, they are added to an artwork as the next-to-last step, since I may decide to add more paint over them.

The one constant is that I always use heavy-body matte gel medium to adhere the stencils to the substrate. It has the strength needed to assure that the stencils will stay in place permanently.

Painted stencils can be cut apart with scissors, or a hobby knife paired with a cutting board. But I use Joyce Chen scissors, originally marketed as a kitchen tool for cutting apart chicken bones! These scissors have short blades that easily make cuts in detained areas of stencil designs. And they are sharp enough to deal with the high quality Mylar that StencilGirl uses.

And when applying the gel medium, I work atop sheets of scratch paper, since some of the gel will end up on whatever's under the stencil-piece.

Above: the "right" side of the stained stencil -- cut from Palm Fronds Silhouette Small (6" x 6")

Above: the stencil piece has been flipped over to its "wrong" side.

Above: I dip this old paintbrush (no longer used for painting) into heavy gel medium and spread the gel across the entire surface of the stencil-bit, on its "wrong" side.

The first photo below shows an artwork-in-progress. Its background has been established with acrylic paints and collage papers. The blue pieces of masking tape are attaching stained stencils in the places where they may, or may not, end up being added with heavy-body matte medium gel. This step is called "auditioning." I'm using the masking tape because I work vertically -- the stretched canvas is facing me, propped up on the shelf of an easel. If I were working horizontally -- the way most artists do, using a tabletop -- I wouldn't need the masking tape.

Below: A close-up of one area of this work-in-progress. In the upper left lies part of a stained stencil that started life as my 9" x 12" stencil It's a Jungle Out There. To its right lies a piece cut from my 9" x 12" stencil Fantasia. In the lower left corner, there is a green-and-white stained cut-out section from my 9" x 12" stencil Prayer Flags.

Above: If familiar with StencilGirl products, you may recognize the leafy white botanical image surrounded by reds and oranges. This is an image I developed in Photoshop and it later became part of my 6" x 6" stencil Ferns 6.

The following photos are to show how stencil designs create shapes that become even more interesting when they're cut apart. To my eye, in this art-in-progress has unity that's created by the way the paper shapes and stencil-bits complement one another.

Full-size art-in-progress: stencil-printed papers and paint-stained stencil-pieces, taped in place with masking tape since I work vertically, on an easel.

Close-up no. 1

Close-up no. 2

Close-up no. 3

Below are the original stencils that were cut apart for use in the abstract-in-construction above; notice how different they become, when paint-stained and cut into pieces as shown in the photo sequence above --