Response Assignment 1

Denim.  A durable fabric that has been with us for many years and still to be a popular choice when it comes to many people's daily wear.  To some, it is a fashionable fabric that serves as a second skin in their urbanized environment.  For others it is a durable fabric to protect against elements and dangers of their work.  I grew up wearing denim, and lived in the era when it was cool to be dressed in it from head to toe.  Fashion trends come and go, but the life cycle of denim continues.  For myself, denim's first life serves to my needs as clothing.  Mostly in jeans, never too tight, but never too loose either.  There is a happy medium of comfort, which would vary differently upon the different cut styles and brands. As a born and raised painter I am not one who feels the need to change my pants before painting or creating art, as my pants become my painter's smock, and then later my art.  I first began collecting my own denim and recycling it into my art as rags and drop cloths.  Today I continue to collect my recycled denim as well as other people's denim which go through an unique preparation process before they are created as a canvas.  Some will be cut and prepared into canvases within the size limitations determined by particular pieces of denim.  Others will be cut and torn into swatches that are later sewn and joined together as a larger canvas.  Denim is only one part of my recycled and reused mixed media art.  Stay tuned for more!

Detail of Eight in Six, (in progress) mixed media on denim by Caz,  2015