Increasingly, we like to customize the everyday objects that surround us. Using the techniques of paper napkin applique and mixed media painting, we pride ourselves on adding a more personal touch to our belongings
The lastest fashion goes one step further: hanging our very own paintings in our homes! The real advantage of creating our own paintings (excepting the pleasure we get from it) is being able to match them precisely to our home's interior decor - sofa, drapes, wall color etc...
all of which creates a real ambience that belongs to nobody but us. What's more, it's ideal for decorating your home without breaking the bank!


You don't have to know how to draw to paint : with a few easy techniques and the right tools we can all create novel, and above all individual paintings! The principle Paint a canvas on a 3D stretcher (frame). (Here we're using linen for the canvas but stretchers in white cotton are more common).The stretcher thickness (usually one sixth of an inch) gives a decorative touch even without an outside frame.
You can play around with groupings of paintings - 3 little stretchers side by side, 4 stretchers in a square arrangement etc...
Here, the stretcher is displayed lengthways, allowing a 3 square arrangement : on the upper square a smaller stretcher has been fixed.

Since we're not painting precise designs, it's more important to create a textured effect, by using different techniques and materials :

• Cracked effect painting : by painting a first layer, then a crackle medium, then a second layer of paint in a contrasting color (always applied in the same direction). The paint will crack on drying. By adding a thicker layer of crackle medium, you create a more textured surface.
• Painting with a cloth. Applied for the background color, with a lighter or even golden color (as with the small square frame).
• Thickened paint : mix acrylic paint and Heavy Gel medium (up to a 50-50 mix) to produce thick, textured paint.
• Working with paper napkins Carefully cut out a pattern from a paper napkin then paste it with adhesive varnish. The dark orange flower and its shadow stand out particularly well against the orange background.

• torn paper mosaic : the Decopatch paper is torn and pasted to form a central square.
• Textured painting. Special 3D paint (for fabrics and other media), can be used to highlight shapes, emphasize lines. Here, the Decopatch mosaic is surrounded by a gel-type paint applied from a bottle. If you're not happy with the result, you can wipe it out with water.
• Using objects to create depth : stick objects (which can of course be painted and decorated themselves) to the stretcher frame itself to create some depth. You can also make these items yourself in modeling clay or texture paste, (stick first, then paint). Here it's a small frame that's been stuck, having first been painted in nearly the same colors as the background, only in lighter and more golden shades. Finally, a decorative leaf is pasted on using adhesive varnish