BioColor® Monoprints on Fabric, Paper, and Canvas

Last week I attended the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach to see how fabric artist Jane LaFazio uses BioColor® in her Fabric Painting Workshop. I had so much fun and came away with lots of ideas and inspiration. I adapted what I learned from Jane’s adult fabric painting class and simplified it for children’s art making. But before we get to that, let’s look at some of Jane’s inspired students as they use BioColor® and BioColor® Fabric Medium to monoprint on plain white fabric. There was such a creative buzz in the room when I arrived with my camera to take it all in!

To make these fabric designs permanent, students added BioColor® Fabric Medium to their paints as part of their set-up. I was impressed that Jane had marked the fabric medium with a big, bold FM so it would not get confused with the white BioColor®, smart lady! (why hadn’t I thought of that?)

These painted fabric designs were created using 4 basic steps. (1) Apply a thin layer of BioColor® onto a printing plate using a foam roller (2) Drop stencils, drag scrapers and sprinkle rubber bands on top to create shapes & textures (3) Lay fabric on top, then finally…… (3) Rub the fabric with your hands (rubbing long and hard) to transfer the paint, shapes and textures onto the fabric. Jane is quite a whirlwind of inspiration and leads art making safaris to Italy and all sorts of exciting places, so I hope you will look her up sometime, or find other creative “gurus” in your own community to help keep your creative juices flowing.

I came home so excited from the International Quilt Festival that I got out my BioColor® paints and played around to simplify Jane’s ideas for the early childhood classroom. I turned a Colorations® Art Trays upside down and it worked just fine as a printing plate (who knew?).

I especially loved the idea of using rubber bands to create shapes and textures. The results were colorful, creative and easy.

If you want to see what else I discovered in modifying Jane’s ideas for the classroom, watch the video clip below.

Check out Jane LaFazio’s website for more creative ideas at JaneLaFazio.com. Thank you, Jane!

Materials Used:

Textured Paint Scrapers (SCR)

Foam Paint Rollers (FRS)

BioColor® Paint (BIO)

BioColor® Fabric Medium (BIOFAB)

Colorations® Art Trays (ARTRAY)

Colorations® Craft Cups (CRAFTC) 

Good Projects for BioColor® Monoprints:

Classroom Canvas Quilt (CLASQLT)

Canvas Boards (VANGOGH)

Blank Canvas Aprons (DECAPRON)

Canvas Pillow Cases (PILLOW)