Art Design in Fabric or Reverse Glass

Submitted by Carol Ianitti

(Hamilton, NY) Come have fun with fabric and create your own Art Quilt! MAD Art Inc. hosts textile artist Sue Lappan at their Community Art Space in the Lebanon Street Alley. Create a design of your own, or bring ideas from pictures you bring to the class. Learn the basic steps to creating your own work of art through fabric and thread design.

Lappan leads this 2-session workshop on November 1 and 8, from noon to 3PM, where you will become inspired, design, stitch, and embellish! All skills are welcome. Art quilts may range in size from 12-20” square depending on student preference. Must have own machine and basic sewing skills.

Lappan is a graduate in Textile Design from Philadelphia College of Textiles. She creates Art quilts and Art dolls, many of which have been published in Art Doll Quarterly. She now owns her own company, Ecoleeko, where she creates plush toys from eco-friendly and sustainable materials.

On November 21, from 9AM to noon, MAD Art hosts a Reverse Glass Painting class with local watercolor artist Yana Laxa at St. Thomas’ Parish Hall. During the session students will learn the technique of applying paint on the reverse side of a piece of glass as to create a colorful scene on the front of the glass. Participants will create their own painting, either by designing their own scene or tracing one from a supplied picture.

Reverse Glass painting is an old European tradition of folk art painting. Originally, glassmakers needed an additional income and started painting on their glass. Since houses were quite dim, they used bright, flat colors to show off a room – and seeing the paint through the glass intensifies the color.

Early subjects were religious scenes, and the more paintings one had, the more protected and prestigious one felt. As the centuries went on, other subject matter appeared, such as landscape scenes, portraits, and still-lifes.

Come and make a gift for someone special. This workshop is for all ages. Young children, accompanied by an adult are welcome.

Laxa was born in Prague, Czech Republic, and has seen many reverse glass paintings first hand, and actually owns a few. She studied art at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and holds a BFA degree from Syracuse University.

For more information, call 315-824-1843, email madartinc@gmail.com, or visit the MAD Art website, www.madartinc.org.

Art Design in Fabric or Reverse Glass

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