Washing The Fabric

After the fabric has air cured for 3 days, and then been heat set in a very hot dryer or hand ironed (depending on size of piece) I soak the fabric briefly in soapy water, and hang out side on the line. Then I rinse the soap off with a hose.
I wash the fabric mainly to remove particles of dried paint that stick to the back of the fabric and to wash away any left over chalk marks from the drawing process.

By the time the fabric is washed, usually most of the chalk has been wiped away by me as I paint, or its been painted over, or even sort of incorporated into the art work: sometimes the brighter chalk colours can add an interesting outline , or "shadow" if they become mixed with the fabric paint and made permanent. Its hard to notice, but I like it.

As a companion piece to her two bird pillows, The client has asked for a smaller (18") pillow with fish on it. She will choose one of these:These are the backs for the fish pillows: