Traci Bautista: Retro Rags: Funky Fabric Books Traci Bautista

Join mixed media artist Traci Bautista’s class as she teaches a day long workshop in creative collage books, or ‘retro rags’.

The process is fun and fast, perfect for students 10 to 100. You see how to dye a variety of cloth and paper, make and use stamps and stencils, transfer images, assemble mini collage covers, stitch in designs, create your own doodles and assemble the pages in a secure decorative latch-hook spine. Bautista finds new ways to use everyday materials; she’s an inspirational, creative dynamo.

Feel the energy of the artist’s classroom in the first volume from Creative Catalyst’s Live Workshop Series. Grab a front row seat in Traci Bautista’s Retro Rags class to learn free-flowing collage techniques and create a funky fabric book. Traci’s carefree style and bold design sense come to life as she demonstrates colorful print making, whimsical doodling and wild stitching. You’ll find all the excitement of her day-long workshop packed into this dynamic, feature-length video.

Traci’s fabric books begin with fast-paced, spontaneous printing. Using her patented 2-ply paper towel method, she quickly makes dozens of designs. She digs through a treasure chest of stamps, paints, stencils and inks and shares quirky techniques for working with each. She encourages you to work fast and let your pigments flow. In a matter of minutes, you’ll have all the material you need to build your collage.

Traci gets the most from materials, and nothing is off limits. She’ll try anything once, from children’s art supplies to items from the garden aisle. She prides herself on personal touches like hand-carved stamps and homemade stencils. She integrates her own previous designs into her current work, and she explains how to copy and archive your designs for later use.

In the second half of the workshop, Traci demonstrates her doodling techniques on cloth and paper. She draws cute characters with a variety of markers and highlights them with colored pencil and glitter. She then sews flowers, hearts and other wild patterns into a fabric cover. She binds the books with a bit of cloth, a few lengths of waxed linen and a decorative, latch-hooked spine.

At the end of the class, you’ll have a completed book and enough prints to make three more. More importantly, you’ll have the techniques and inspiration to take your collage art to a new level. Enter Traci Bautista’s classroom and enjoy the ride in the live workshop Retro Rags: Funky Fabric Books.

Bonus Clip: Paper Towel Printing for Collage