Fabric Painting with Inspiration from Nature!

For the past dozen years my friend Sharon and I try to walk every Sunday morning! Life gets in the way sometimes and we miss a weekend or two but we always circle back for our walking-friend-time. Years ago I started a "Walking with Sharon" fabric series inspired by our Sunday walks. 

On this Sunday walk the contrasting white mushrooms against the moss and tree bark caught my eye.

It's finally getting warm enough where I can create work outside = yeah! I love my outdoor work space and on a delightful warm day I took some fabric and paints outside to splash away! 

It's worth noting that I am never compelled to duplicate nature but rather use what I see as a jumping off point!

Outdoor Tip: I carry my supplies in a "bus bin" that you find when waitstaff clear tables in a restaurant. It's durable and easy to clean.

To emulate contrasting white I pinched the fabric with clothes pins.

I painted over the surface of the fabric not spending too much time trying to cover every square inch - just touching on the surface. 

I heat set the fabric once it dried... I decided I wasn't too thrilled with the pops of white feeling it needed more depth.

I painted a thin layer of black paint over the entire surface. I think I'll try sponging some variegated moss-colors lightly before I consider it complete! There are no more contrasting white spots but as I mentioned I never try to duplicate nature... just a little inspiration here and there to get started! 

I read tree bark! 

Do you work outdoors?!