Progress

Just to update you with what I've been doing. I wanted to make a skirt out of leaves. I wanted them to remain soft so that they would move as the person walks. I first washed and dried the leaves. I then coated them with PVA glue and hung them to dry. Once they were dry I tried bending them but they felt a bit hard for what I wanted them for.

I then coated single leaves in a few coats of latex and allowed them to dry. They were a lot softer and was happy with the results. I even peeled off the latex from one on the leaves. It left a very clear impression of all the details on the leaf. I then tried to make one sheet of latex with the imprint of the leaves. Unfortunately this didn't work out for me. I used leaves that kept popping up off the page. I needed to use flat or pressed leaves. I plan to try this again at a later stage.

I then was looking at pictures of swirling leaves and came across one that showed a beautiful range of coloured leaves. I decided to try and work on this thought. I made some circles from wire and
connected them to each other by a centre piece of wire and reinforced it.

Then I cut some pieces of string. I mixed some acrylic paint with water in a cup and suspended the string into it. I used the colours of autumn leaves.

I strained and dried them. I then tied them onto the top two wire circles.

I then sellotaped two metal skewers down the centre to give it extra support. I also needed the end of the skewers to be longer than the piece so they would be able to spin. I inserted it into an electric drill. With the drill on, I took photos and a video clip of it.

Was having problems with uploading the vido clip. Hope it works!!
I have to say, I really enjoyed making this.

I've started my next stage. I'm working on a paper cut. I'll update when I have more to show you.