Self portrait

Size; 12" x 12"

I admire Greek and Roman mosaics and was wowed the first time I saw one interpreted in fabric. This was my first attempt to try mosaic work using fabric. I started by backing a selection of fabrics with fusible. I printed out an enlarged B/W photo and traced over the main features with a black felt pen. Using a window I traced the main lines of my image onto the background fabric. (I didn’t bother reversing the image, so my nose is bent to the right, instead of to the actual LEFT.) I started with the hair and worked downwards. I focused on paying the most attention to dark/light values of the fabric rather than the actual colour. So if you look closely, my eyebrows are different colours, but you don’t see that at first glance!

It was way more work than I thought it would be – now I have a great respect for those whose main craft is mosaic. The pieces were small and I had to use a needle and tweezers to shift each piece into position. I placed about 6 pieces at a time and then fused. Planning how the pieces would fit the contours was fun. I think I might like to try this again, but with a different subject and larger ‘tiles’. I hope the tiles stick in the long term because there was no way I was going to sew each one down.

Quilting is simple outline quilting, with a few swirls in the background.

This was my first attempt at a self portrait in any medium, and I’m glad I did the exercise. Thanks to whoever made this theme!

Here is a close up: