Feeling your way when working with Koloron, paint and heat

Having worked with Koloron for a few years I see it differently from people who have not experienced the adaptable nature of this unique material.

My pleasure starts when I run my hands over its surface. It feels like a quality watercolour paper and thoughts turn to brushes and flowing paint. Big brushes filled to the point of overload, dripping large blobs of pure bright colour over the brilliant white surface.

What one can't do with watercolour paper is to grab a handful and crunch it up and then flatten it out again. With Koloron you can and you're left with a pattern of lines and creases, a change of texture and the beginnings of 3D working. Do the same thing with an area coloured bright red and the uniqueness of this fabric starts to reveal itself. Unlike paper Koloron will tolerate any amount of folding, creasing, gathering, ruching and wringing. You can even crochet strips of Koloron, weave with it and plait it into ropes. And you can choose to colour it before or after you've started the creative process.

Martin Charles* the Haute Couture designer working near Northampton UK said " I started by using Koloron for pattern making. The Art Fabric is exceptionally strong and unlike paper can be modelled on the stand before cutting the pattern out. Furthermore it doesn't tear or fray, qualities that make it ideal for this purpose. My next step was creating designs. I found the Art Fabric stitched easily and could be gathered, pleated or simply draped. And it could be moulded, wired and bonded to make structured clothes such as a fitted jacket" And that was before he got going with colour.

I find if you use a flexible paint that will not crack when the fabric is flexed you can colour the work when it is nearing completion. Alternatively using a heavy polyurethane spray will ensure the fabric doesn't flex. This way you get the fluid nature of fabric transfixed permanently in the shape you have created. Start to mix colour, varnishes and heat and the character of Koloron changes again.

Martin said "Acrylic, emulsion and spray paint all cover well. The paint doesn't seep through the fabric. Glue and glitter are just as successful. A completely different effect was achieved by ironing a colour photocopy onto the Art Fabric. As the heat of the iron melted the Art Fabric the colours from the photocopy showed through".

A heat gun will open up even more possibilities. Koloron Art Fabric becomes completely transformed and becomes a moulding medium that draws colour into a 3D composition.

Art Fabric can be all things to all artists whether they are greeting card designers, scenery builders or are looking to hang in the Tate Gallery. Koloron has excitement in store for all of them.

John Winter
Head of Art, Koloron Ltd

* Martin Charles owns the 'No Shrinking Violets' label www.noshrinkingviolets.co.uk

Costumes made easy and inexpensive

This picture has become something of an icon to us and for Koloron Art Fabric. The costumes are taken from a stage production of 'Alice' and they represent about the quickest and cheapest way of dressing kids for a school panto.

The costumes were created by David Bacon who lived, at the time, near Market Harborough in Leicestershire UK. He had spent his life working in art studios and is a father of two. A great supporter of his girls and their school and a bit of a talent as his work shows.

From a distance these costumes are perfect, get up close and you can see how simple they are. Take Alice herself. A single bright blue brush trail says it all. Bright yellow fills in the spaces around her apron. It took a Koloron Tabard and about 15 minutes to do. Time and cost were nothing, the imagination was everything.

The 'Mad Hatter' is also a Tabard and what looks like trousers is simply clever brushwork again. But stand back and it looks better than a week of needlework and lot of angst. The Knave took longer plus a hunt for a pack of playing cards for reference.

The lesson from David is "keep it simple, keep it bright" .Until the arrival of Art Fabric none of this was possible because fabric just doesn't act like paper and paper isn't strong enough to wear. Now almost everything is possible and Koloron Art Fabric is changing many school productions. Today you will find it in many schools and on amateur and professional stages. Wonderful things have been created with it, costumes and scenery. Compare Alice with the girl below, both are Koloron and paint. Fun isn't it?

At Koloron we keep photographs that people send us and one day we'll put up a gallery, so if you would like to see your work there get out the camera and send us your pictures please. http://www.koloron.com/ mark them gallery.



Mike with thanks to David Bacon.
Koloron Ltd

An amazing coat of many colours

This stunning coat is a fabulous project that crosses many disciplines, from art and design to drama, then with a little lateral thinking history and geography. This creation by Sue Backhouse draws its inspiration from many sources yet uses traditional skills to produce.

Having cut the Koloron Art Fabric into the panels from which the coat is to be constructed the design was traced down and painted with acrylics. Once the colour was dry the design was stitched and quilted. The large motifs were free stitched with gold thread. Finally the coat was made up and lined with purple silk. A work of Art and a triumph for imagination.

I have stood in front of it spellbound, gazing into the colours and the dazzling patterns and I can't describe what it's like to wear. Fabulous!

Gill from the Koloron team

Did you know you could crochet with Koloron?

It was a new idea for us until Jill Alblas showed us what she had achieved. She cut Koloron into strips and worked them with a crochet hook. The end result was a bag that not only is something to be proud of but an accessory that can be colour matched to anything she wants to pair it with.

Koloron is hard wearing and when crocheted is particularly tough. The textured surface is exciting and will take any type of colour, brushed or sprayed, flat or stencilled shapes, images or the full works with glitter and panache. Any size too, again, the limit is the imagination.

Mike and thank you Jill

Using Wire with Koloron

Ted and Debbie run workshops in Sussex and wanted to know how best to create shapes with Koloron, we talked about using wire to give shape to Koloron Art Fabric structures.

Modelling wire comes in many gauges and you can select that which best suits the project. Costumes requiring soft support as in the case of high standing collars and exaggerated lapels and pockets will not need the heavy gauges needed for lamp shades and other rigid structures.

The lighter gauges of wire can be trapped in a fold of Koloron and stuck or sewn in position whereas the heavy gauges are better taped and the Koloron sewn or glued securely. Mesh can also be useful, as can plastic hoops and ribs for some costumes like Chinese dragons that are almost freestanding. In all these cases the costume or structure is usually made in the 'white' and painted afterwards.

The lamp shade shown here was designed by Alison Couchman* and the choice of paints, opaque and transparent, was determined by the light shining through the Koloron fabric. The giant flower also by Alison, was created by bending modelling wire into petal shapes and sandwiching them between two pieces of glued Koloron.

There are so many ways of adding shape to your work and we have articles about fashion and garments on our main website, http://www.koloron.com/. Hope they help or you can ask questions here and we'll do our best to answer them with examples.

Ian

The Koloron Team

* Alison runs many workshops including some using Koloron Art Fabric.

Masks made from Koloron Art Fabric

John from Swindon wanted tips on creating masks, here's what we suggested:

The basics of using Koloron for any form of head wear is to consider the structure and the decoration as two separate issues. The fit of a mask or a hat is fundamental and care should be taken to ensure that the structure is strong and comfortable for the wearer.

The structure also has to carry the decoration so a little thought given at the outset is worth a lot later in the process. For a hat a skullcap is usually ideal whereas a mask requires a 'balaclava' approach.

Koloron is best sewn for those projects; the Art Fabric is strong and comfortable to wear as it breathes. Once the structure is in place you can get creative.

A head mannequin is ideal if you have one, if not a short roll of corrugated card will do. You need to work in the round to apply your decoration and colour and don't forget to keep standing away from your work to gauge the effect you are creating. Be bold and use bright colours for a stunning look.

Work done for the stage need not be as carefully finished as fashion work and the opportunities can be much greater, for example the mask for Oberon was designed by Jane Bower and goes beyond the catwalk. Jane saw the project as a work of complete fantasy and gave freedom to her imagination. She created the structure by heating and shrinking Koloron around a wire frame. The heating gave form and texture before the holes were cut for the eyes and mouth.

Acrylic paint and oil pastels were applied to give colour and accentuate features, and then beads and sequins were added. Finally pieces of Koloron were torn and frayed to produce some soft fibrous edges. I think you'll agree she has a stunning result.

Mike
The Koloron team

Crazy wigs made from Koloron

Clare teaches in Sutton and helps out with an amateur dramatics group, she asked us about crazy wigs - here is part of her answer:

Pre-painted Koloron cut into strips on a cutting board starts the process of wig making. Use a sharp modelling knife and a steel straight edge to produce strips about 10mm wide. Again, from Koloron, shape a skullcap that fits the head tightly and covers the top of the head, seam the cap from front to back.

Lay the cap flat and start by applying the individual strips to the cap with PVA. Applying the strips to the cap pointing upwards rather than downwards will help the hair spring out of the head and hide the fixing.

Apply the strips in ove lapping rows working from the crown to the ears. Ensure all strips point upwards. As you apply each row you will partly cover the preceding row.

When you wear the cap the strips will cascade over the head and can be styled, tied and further coloured. Any colour, any style and as crazy as you like Clare.

On to hats. Again the best way to proceed is with a skullcap to which anything can be affixed, PVA or stitching, both techniques work equally well. We have had some wonderful creations from fashion students using feathers and spray paint, one that used the fallen leaves from a chestnut tree and one that was a fully decorated Christmas tree with lights. How about that. Anybody anything better? And of course there is always Halloween

Mike, at the Koloron team

Making Screens with Koloron

Colin from a Primary School in Dorset asked us about Screens, this was how we answered:

A simple wooden frame or screen is what you need, any size, Koloron can be stretched and stapled and the resulting screen can be really useful on the stage or in the classroom.

The translucency of Koloron Art Fabric can be used to good effect and even enhanced by lighting from behind.

Back Lighting. Colour that is transparent will create a stained glass window effect and strips or shapes of opaque paper can be glued to the surface. Opaque paint can create wonderful effects when images are painted on the screen leaving areas that are in-filled with transparent colour.

Whole stage sets can be created by investing in simple frames that can be recovered and decorated for each production. Stage sets can be created by alternating with back lit and front lit frames to create endless effects and atmospheres.

Front Lighting. Koloron will take most paints, sprayed or brushed and high gloss surfaces can be created. With care wooden screens stretched with Koloron can easily be painted to appear as metal walls, wood grained to look like wood panelling or sprayed to look like concrete and then graffiti added to create the urban car park.

The opportunities are endless; instead of paint try glue and then adding bling in the form of glitter and reflective foils. Lighting the face of these screens will give them the solid feel that belies their light weight.The use of heat guns will create some very unusual effects. Stretch Koloron over the frame and disolve the surface with the heat gun. Now apply a second skin of Koloron and back light. The use of colour during this process really opens up the creative opportunities.

Colin's next stop is Hollywood.

Ian, the Koloron team