Tote Bag Art

If you are like me, you have a pile of tote bags somewhere in your house or car. Some of them, like those from Quilt Festival or Wegmans Grocery, are works of art in their own right.  Others are rather plain and boring.This year, the Surface Design Association came up with a great idea for the 2013 conference in San Antonio.  They call it the Snag-A-Bag Swap. Instead of receiving  a plain tote bag when you sign in, you can trade in a tote that you have re-decorated through painting, dyeing, printing, scribbling, tufting, embroidering or other form of embellishment. Then you will receive a one-of-a-kind collector’s item created by someone else. Think of it as wearable art. (You can read more about the Snag-A-Bag Swap in the SDA's latest online newsletter.)


A few weeks ago, a group of local artists got together to "prime the pump".  We painted, fused and stitched to transform new and gently used tote bags into tote bag art.

Jane Dunnewold provided lots of paints and raw materials for us to use

Robin Early takes an abstract approach

Laura Ann Beehler adds a few finishing touches

Jean Dahlgren collaborates with other artists on design ideas

Marshall, the studio cat, was a bit overwhelmed by all the activity

We left a lot of bags drying on the clothesline

More bags drying outside

A few of the finished bags

Snagging a Bag is reason enough in itself to attend the conference, but there are a lot of other great reasons to go, too! Check out the SDA website to read more about conference happenings. And get a behind the scenes view on the SDA blog.