Sunny days make my heart pound.😬

For some people, sunny days are for spending time at the beach or sipping drinks on the patio... but I have never been one of them. I'm not saying I can't step out for a minute to relax in my garden or enjoy a weekend of camping with my family, but when I see a forecast of clear, sunny days ahead, it literally makes my mind spin with all of the creative things I want to accomplish! With all of the things I can make on a sunny day, I wake up and feel drawn upstairs to work my studio, where I'm as happy as can be.🤗💗

One of the things that's always on my wishlist for a sunny day is fabric painting. It's always a quick and fun project to do, especially if I just want to create without a specific project in mind. Sun printing is one of the most interesting and least predictable types of art that I do. I've created sun prints with a variety of leaves and flowers from my garden and it is always a surprise how the end result looks.

 Acrylic paint has a photosensitive quality that causes it to react to sunlight. Anywhere that the paint is covered and hidden from the sun, the pigment virtually disappears, leaving a beautiful white pattern on the fabric that can only be described as amazing.

The painting process is quick because I know the real showstopper is the printed items...I guess that's why I enjoy it so much... it really takes the pressure off of the colours and the brushstrokes!  

 I recently recorded my Start Simple in Fabric Painting course, and tried sun printing with some large palm leaves that I received in a flower bouquet. They were difficult to get to lay flat so I held them down with a sheet of glass. The fabric took hours to dry (the condensation on the glass was somewhat worrisome and continuously dripped down onto the fabric below😨), but the sun still managed to work it's magic on the resulting fabric. 

 The results were spectacular! I am tempted to put this piece directly into a frame it is just so pretty.😍

I encourage anyone who has not tried sun printing to give this technique a try. Even with the craft paints you have at home - most of them are photo-sensitive (like I'm talking the kind you buy for your kids to paint rocks, who knew?)! I can vouch for this as I have tested out some very inexpensive acrylic paints with wonderful results.

You'll never relax on a sunny day again. Happy painting!😎🖌️