Today is Thursday which means ART CLASS!

Can you flunk art? I must be the most inept student my teacher has ever had. In class I had black paint smeared all over me, the rag I took, numerous paper towels and my project. *sigh* I couldn't even manage to "stay between the lines" on my sketch.

I was supposed to have a piece of fibro fácil prepared ahead of time with a sketch and some areas built up with scraps of newspaper and glue for texture. I didn't have time until last evening to work on it, but no big deal I thought. We'd done the texture thing in class last week so I felt comfortable leaving it until Wednesday night.

Mistake #1.

Who knew that making paste would be so hard?! My teacher had inadvertently transposed the recipe so my first attempt was a gloppy mess that I threw away. Realizing she must have gotten the ratio reversed, I switched it but my second attempt still wasn't right. Finally we looked it up online. At which point I realized it is not a simple matter of mixing flour and water. You have to COOK it.

The recipe we found called for boiling the mixture 10-30 minutes. Well, within three minutes it appeared thickened to the right consistency but I'm thinking I had to boil it at least 10 minutes, the minimum called for in the recipe. However at 5 minutes into the process the hubby said he thought I should go ahead and take it off the stove.

Then it cooled off and set up into the consistency of jello; you could practically cut it with a knife. Definitely not gonna work. Back to the kitchen we went.

Mistakes #2, 3, 4.

I ended up adding another cup of water (the original recipe was 1/4 cup flour, 1-1/4 cups water) but eventually we had a workable product. Whew! And it only took 45 minutes and a whole lot of flour ☺

Our teacher had suggested bringing pieces of fabric and paper as well as the paint, and I had the brilliant idea to use bits of fabric with the glue (like I would the newspaper) to add texture. It isn't terrible, and it's kind of interesting and definitely provides texture, but fabric frays and there are tiny bits of thread imbedded all over my collage.

Mistake #5.

Although after my attempts at painting today, I think I prefer the fabric. Definitely easier to work with, and I like the fact that fabric comes in a variety of prints as well as colors. My project is a cubist landscape, ala Juan Gris style, and for one of my "fields" I used a subdued green fabric with white flowers. It's one of my favorite bits of the collage ☺ Although I really like the sky fabric I used too.

Oh, and a hint for anyone who wants to make their own glue. Add a couple tablespoons of vinegar once it's cooled a little. That, along with keeping it in the fridge, will prevent bacteria from growing.