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Archive for the ‘screenprinting’ Category

This and That

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Where did Monday go? I did the washout on my remaining fabric from the workshop. I hobbled around the house and the neighborhood like an invalid. (More later) I spiffed up the house, went shopping and put together some appetizers for later. By 3 pm, I had to shower and get ready to greet our friends from Schenectady, where we used to live. They were visiting Bill’s sister in Beaverton and he and his wife, Joy, came by to spend the late afternoon and evening with them. We gave them a tour of the Rhodie garden, which they proclaimed as the best back yard they had ever seen! We came back to the house for drinks and snacks before walking over to Reed College for a picnic on the lawn and a concert of all Schubert music — it was divine. Throughout this, the tile guy laid the bathroom floor; it looks great – photos later. And, we discovered that Maggie had a very swollen cheek:

Now, on to the good stuff. Here is the cotton piece that I stamped the potato dextrin with a net and a plastic grid and over-painted with dark turquoise. You can click the detail to see the wonderful. subtle  netting.

Next, is the yellow/green silk scarf that needed help. I used combed potato dextrin and over-painted with dark turquoise dye.

This piece was pfd cotton. I  screenprinted corn dextrin using a thermofax of a hand drawn circle and stamped with bubblewrap. I rolled on chocolate brown dye.

This is silk organza that was stamped with chocolate brown dye (no resist) using a round sponge. I then squiggled it with black dye.

This habotai silk was painted with dye in the primary colors and generously squiggled with black dye (I have to learn how to control that syringe!).

The last piece is silk organza, painted with left over dyes that I  mixed. It was the last piece and I did not want to mix up more dye.


I just love doing this thickened dye work. I have plans for some more good stuff!!

Back to the goings on here at home. It seems that I have piriformis syndrome causing sciatica pain in my left hip. I couldn’t get physical therapy until July 22 and I am going to be at the Coupeville Art Center  then. So, I did an internet search and found some exercises and other things to do for this. It seems that women who walk or run a lot are more prone to this. I am doing the exercises and icing and I am feeling better. It is worse in the middle of the night when I need to get up or when I have been sitting for some time. Lots of ibuprofen, too.

Maggie went to see her Doctor this morning and she had to have 2 abscessed  teeth removed. She will be out of it for awhile and eating soft foods, but hopefully, she returns to her normal joyful self. I gotta run; I have a communications committee meeting at the cathedral.


Piece de Resistance

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

Today was the last day of our thickened dyes/liquid resists class, and there was a flurry of activity as we tried to fit in lots of dye painting. When I arrived this morning, I first went to work painting the resisted pieces from yesterday. I mixed up some dark turquoise for these pieces. The first is the potato dextrin resist in which I stamped netting and a plastic grid. All photos are clickable for bigger view.

This is the back side, and you can get a better idea of how the resist is working. It is curing and will get washed tomorrow.

I also used the dark turquoise on the yellow/green silk scarf which had combed potato dextrin. Here is the front.

Here is the back which shows how the design created from the resist. I don’t know how well this will take the dye. Jeannette says that silk has fewer dye receptors so a second dye does not usually take. I did not know this and have often over-dyed silk. So we shall see!!

On the white cotton fabric which was screen printed with circles and stamped with bubble wrap, I used chocolate brown. I will probably over-dye this. This is the back side.

My next activity was to wash out the resist from yesterday’s dye-painting. This is a blurry photo of the torn paper screen print with corn dextrin. I think that I will discharge and additional design element on this piece.

The dye in the corn dextrose worked, but the black color washed out to a gray. The potato dextrin crackle gave it some great texture.

Jeanette demonstrated painting directly on fabric with thickened dyes without resists. I had lots of fun. Here is some free from painting on silk habotai. Hey, Picasso, I’m not!

On some organza, I stamped chocolate brown circles with a round sponge and then squirted black paint with a syringe.

This organza is painted with left over thickened dye that I gathered from other students.

A great time was had by all. I feel more competent to play with thickened dyes in my own studio. just need more time!!

Into the Thick of the Dyes

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Playing with thickened dyes is something I have always wanted to do. Now, I have lots of ideas permeating my brain. When we arrived this morning, our potato dextrin pieces had dried and cracked into wonderful mosaic designs. Here, I am applying black thickened dye with a foam brush. This is very tedious and an Ipod with great music is a nice accessory. The dye has to dry and is then wrapped in plastic to cure for 24 hours.

This is the piece that had the masking tape and potato dextrin. I used a combo of black and red thickened dye. I should have taken a photo of the back because you can get a hint of how the resist is working and the wonderful design that is left. This was taken outside in partial sun. (It was nice and hot in Portland, today.)

Last night, I posted to the Complex Cloth list about this workshop. Someone mentioned that you can add thickened dye to corn dextrin and paint it on the fabric. Then, when it is dry, you can add potato dextrin and add another layer. So, I had to try it. Here, I have used a thermofax screen (I didn’t have the corn dextrin thick enough). I have added a layer of combed potato dextrin over it.

For this piece, I used a construction fence to paint the corn dextrose. After drying, I added potato dextrin.

I mixed up a great green dye which I used for the corn dextrin pieces. I think they are going to look great. Today, we had a session on screenprinting, which I didn’t really need. I did this torn paper screen print of corn dextrin on this piece.

I was so excited to find out that one of the bad girls in the back of the room made this “Bare Rug.” Tamara teaches at Lynfield College. The rug was on display and was stolen. You can read about its disappearance, here and its recovery, here. She brought it in for us to see today. This is a first in a series that she plans to do.

While I was waiting for Reva to drive us home, I saw this adorable young robin, playing in the shrubbery.

Got Some Mo’ Back

Monday, May 5th, 2008

I have been so lacking in energy and ideas. I have been avoiding my studio like the plague. The sun has come back to Portland, and with it has come my momentum.

Remember this scarf that I discharged in January?

I decided to add some layers and donate it to the silent auction. First, I screenprinted a subtle filigree design with copper paint.

I painted some foiling glue on bubble wrap and pressed it on the scarf in a cascading design.

I forgot to take a picture of the foiling process. After the glue dries for at least an hour, I lay a sheet of foil over the glue and hit it with a hot iron, transferring the foil. I used a combo of gold and copper foil.

Here is the finished scarf:

Here is a closeup:

Because the glue showed through on the back side as dark spots, I decided to line it with another scarf. It is quite elegant, if I do say so myself.

I am excited to say that two of my collages for the Collage Mania Fiber Art for a Cause sold at the opening bell this morning. I was able to acquire collages by Lizzie Berg, Jette Clover and Karen Stiehl Osborn. So happy with that!! There are still lots of wonderful art to be purchased and the price drops to $40 tomorrow. I still have one left to be purchased. Go here to see them and make a purchase. 100% of the money goes to the American Cancer Society.

Tomorrow, I start the serious business of packing for our journey.

I Love Creating Complex Cloth

Monday, February 11th, 2008

Complex cloth is created by building up layers of surface design on fabric. It requires having a vision of where you are going, but the willingness to go with the flow because surface design is not an exact science — at least the way I do it!!

I must have the art cloth (that I can’t show you) done and shipped to Jane Dunnewold in Texas by Friday. So far I have overdyed, discharged and screen printed two central images – very abstract. I was not thrilled with my results as they were not as crisp as I would have liked. but as I said, there is nothing exact. So I started on my next layer this morning, first practicing on other fabric. I even e-mailed Rayna Gilman in a panic because I was feeling so insecure about printing on the silk. She reminded me that it is a process that you go through and the results will vary. So I forged ahead. I wanted to do some overall printing with found objects, like the vinyl mesh potato bags and bubble wrap. Here is the result on another piece of silk that I had in my stash. This is little blurry. You can see the bubble wrap print, but the mesh is more subtle. The circles are a thermofax screen that I made. I will print those on the art cloth tomorrow. I also want to create an image that I will foil.

silkbubbleprint.jpg

So, after doing this sample, I took a deep breath and started working on the large silk piece. Wow, this is addictive. The printing that I did today helped to integrate yesterday’s images and the parts that I didn’t like took on this amorphous and lovely appearance. That is why I love creating complex cloth.

I am falling behind in my homework for Liz’s class. I have skimmed the material that I downloaded this week-end. I think it is going to be lots of fun. Here is the workspace for the class that I have set up in my office next to my computer and scanner. I have to scan my work and post it on the yahoo site.

artclassworkspace.jpg

I bet you are wondering how I get anything done! Here are some pages from my journal for the class to prove that I am getting work done.

artclassjournal1.jpg

artjournal2.jpg

artjournaltextures.jpg

The last one is a composition using lots of different textures.

I must get some work done on the SDA website. Good night.