Abstract Face Punch

 Project Dates:  12/25/2023 - 1/19/2024

This was a short quick project. It was a kit purchased through Etsy from Chloe Art Crafts. This was one of my self-selected holiday presents. I was searching for a kit project. Something easy and new, in the sense of a new-to-me craft. Love finding and trying out new textile tools and techniques. Rather than invest in all the tools for a new hobby, I thought to test it out first with a small kit project.

It’s funny to me how some things just don’t cross your path until they do. I had not heard of punching until almost a decade ago now. A friend was into it and introduced her fascination with it to us. They were doing something a bit different which utilized fabric cut into small narrow strips and then punched into a background fabric. I’ve been curious about it ever since, though only now with just enough motivation and curiosity to actually try it out

The kit I purchased uses a multi-ply yarn. The design is reminiscent of the sixty’s abstract artist Piet Mondrian. The colors and design motif come straight from one of his famous painting. I did another project, a sweater, based on the same Piet Mondrian style. His design was blocks of primary colors with outlines of black lines. Yves St. Laurent also designed a short dress using the same inspiration.

When my sister and I were pre-teens, we received many different kinds of art kits as presents. We tried everything from color pencils to jewelry-making. Mom loved it because it kept us occupied for hours at a time. We tried paint-by-numbers, crafts kits to make tile ashtrays, and there was one even one that reminds me of this punch kit. I don’t recall how it was marketed, but it was a two-dimensional art kit. The background was a painting cardboard with a stamped design. The motif was abstract in the same style as this art piece from Chloe. The outline was done with black cord glued onto the surface. Then there were colored tile chips, like tiny odd shaped grains the size of peppercorns. After the block areas were outlined, glue was dispensed into the bordered areas and the colored chips sprinkled in to fill in with color.

This project went fairly quickly. The result is satisfying. The effort is probably not something I will invest more time with. It just doesn’t provide the same level of satisfaction as some of my other textile hobbies. It was a fun and quick tangent, but I will leave punching as an interesting side trip and occasional attraction, but nothing more. 

Enjoy!

Alex