Shredding Burlap

What a beautiful day for shredding burlap. It warmed up to 60 today so I went to my favorite lunch place – the roof across the street – to eat, enjoy the weather and get one of the mindless art tasks done.

Shredded burlap to the right and cherry blosssoms to the left.

I always dye my burlap first, putting different colors in different areas, cut the pieces out of the layers and assemble it back into one piece. I also dye strips of burlap to use for the “fin” or contour lines on my map art. Part of the work for getting the “fins” ready is to shred some of the threads off so I have strings to poke through and tie on the back of the piece, this is how I get the “fins” to stand up perpendicular to the main fabric piece. Shredding is quite mindless, but a perfect task for relaxing out in the sun or riding the bus. Outside is definitely preferable because the fuzz tends to blow away rather than swirl around your nose.