LIBBY WILLIAMSON
TEA BAG REVIVAL
Mackinac Island, Michigan
Monday May 11 - Friday May 15​​
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The lowly tea bag, when dried and emptied, becomes the foundation for a precious piece of art.
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Acrylic paint and a variety of mark-making techniques will add lovely color and texture to miscellaneous fabrics and papers, creating a stash of luscious materials. Realistic or abstract shapes in any designs are cut from these materials.
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Then... each tea bag will be collaged with these shapes. The addition of free-motion machine sewing and/or hand stitching will add linear detail.
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A final composition will be arranged using a fabric substrate combined with variety of textured fabrics and trims. The final result: a unique, wondrous art quilt approximately 20” x 30”. However, you might choose to make several smaller compositions, a scroll, or even an accordion book. The final composition size, shape, and format is up to you.
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Come play with me and make these magical artworks with recycled paper tea bags!
"Not much can top paint caked beneath my fingernails, glue in my hair,
and... a bowl of ice cream!"
Libby Williamson is a mixed-media fiber artist and teacher.
Transforming fabrics and papers with dye and paint, she creates massive stashes of material to integrate into her artwork. Thread and stitches play predominant roles as Libby scribbles lines and textures with blissful, reckless abandon.
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Always an artist, Libby was raised in a world of fabric scraps and yarn, pins and needles, paint, Elmers Glue, and a whole lot of Scotch Tape. She was taught fine needle crafts and quilting techniques but quickly abandoned traditional piecing, finding her passion and freedom in mixed-media art. She trained in college as a printmaker and this passion with surface design continues to inform her work today. ​
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Libby loves to teach. Her classrooms are joyful and relaxed, yet jam-packed with techniques and methods. Part rebel, mischief maker, and stubborn rule breaker, she gravitates to the quirky, the wonky and the imperfect. She is a proud hoarder of all things “fiber” and thrives in a world of stitch and sew.
