Screen Day Begins

My favorite printing method is the silkscreen. The techniques, applications, happenstance, and compositional choices are nearly endless. One could be paralyzed with the choices, but that's sometimes the fun. I'll be teaching "Just Silkscreens" end of May at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, NY.

Just Silksceen Printing

The Schweinfurth Art Center will host my workshop for three days this May 29-31, 2026 -- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 9 to 4, . As the title of the workshop goes, it is Just Silkscreens, so be prepared for some large scale, vibrantly colored prints. And it'll be during the opening of the SDA show, a bonus! 

 

One is Done

I started with two identical prints that had a red running motif on them. They were to finish in distinctly different ways. One is shown here, the other is what is called a "dye dog" and is back in the soda soak to undergo some more flattering applications. Meanwhile, enjoy this one.

View of the Print Table

The end of the workshop day has my table with a partially finished work, a demo piece as well. I'd hate to have those colors go wasted, so I'll grab another fabric and lay down a background fabric. Then dinner, then return to finish other that ar waiting on the shelves. I love winter!
 

Starters

I've stacked two prints that are starters for our homework assignment. We'll start with similar motifs, then take them to completely different conclusions. It's a fun way to look at composition, and the results I'll try to show you later this week.

 

A Day for Backgrounds

My virtual workshop started with testing color mixes, then ways to lay down backgrounds and beginning motifs for printing. Both scrapers and rollers are put to the task, and now I've got some layers to start adding to tomorrow. Nice crew to work with, and always happy to get back to printing.
 

Test Strip

My guess is that the mixed dyes are almost 8 weeks old, but still viable. So, not wanting to waste, I grabbed a soda ash-soaked strip and scraped each color, waited, washed out. Some are fine, and seeing this test strip I can use the color as is, not thinned with print paste, to get this light shade. I've printing to do!
 

Colors of Santa Fe

The MISA workshop started today with beautiful  colors that surround this region. We're fine-tuning scraping and rubbings on cotton cloth using thickened dyes. Exhausted, yes, but willing to return to do more? Hell yes. Wait till you see what happens in Bar Harbor this September.
 

Workable Square

I'm compilimg a set of works that are based on a square. This is a composition that may become larger (still square format) but is split almost down the middle and has two different base prints. It is the common background yellow that allows one to flow in to the other. Love when that happens.
 

The Fabric Waits for You

This yard lay soda-soaked, printed, and ready for finishing, for a long time, almost two years. The effort to reduce the unfinished pile paid off, and it can now be called done. My trust that the soda-ashed fabric will wait, the colors getting neither darker nor lighter, proved right.

What We Do For Fun

Art Quilt Tahoe is like many retreats for creatives. We get a group together, explore a process or project, and practice as much as time allows. This is a typical scene, and boy, did we make great prints!
 

Start With Dark

Somehow I think of Paula Kovarik when I see this. She draws fantastic creatures in her works. These are printed, but same planet, I think. I'll show this one to my class this week at QSDS and see what then see.
 

Next Thing

Finished with the second little piece for QSDS. At 2' square, it packs a lot of surface design techniques -- silkscreen, monoprint, direct drawing, and scraped color. There is also a bit of thin line added just to offer a scale difference and a shape. Why not.
 

Setting Sail on Dry Land

My hometown quilt guild is hosting my workshop on the breezy waters of Lake Ontario! We'll be setting up for a two day printing class (read: dip your toes in the frigid waters of thickened dye) at the Yacht Club. Talk about location! We may need our life vests on under our aprons. 
 

Kind Days of Christmas 8

I would not experiment half as much if I didn't have a crowd behind me asking the question "how do I do this [fill in the blank]?".  One of the latest was the printing a thin white line with thickened dye. That kind question led me to experiment with a tjanting tool and soy wax resist on silkscreen. Viola!
 

One Last Time

Jane lets me know the true meaning of going big and bold. We'd reached the last day, last print, last bit of print paste to use up. And she took to this oversized piece of linen to scrape her design. What a fun class. I'll be back at Pro Chemical and Dye next year. Thanks to my 2021 class!

 

Sizing Up

The piece stretches over eight feet wide at this point, and I'll look to add height top and bottom. I think the proportion works better for that size. And I've started to lock in the parts that flow well together and either define a block boundary or allow a pattern to flow through that edge. 
 

Old Dye for an Old Dyer

Four weeks after mixing this print paste, the color is just fine, fine, fine. I'm trying to use every bit so I can mix a new batch for Monday's class. And another great reason not to put soda ash in the dye and print paste mix. Lasts a long time! 
 

Too Big to Fit

Good thing this studio has a concrete floor and can't be hurt with water. This large screen might be over kill or these circles. My challenge is to use its size for a motif. Think!
 

Just How Wild Will We Get?

The fun of printing is printing with abandon. Trying out new things, seeing the road more curvy than straight. So, day two brought out the wild. This is the Virtual Go Big, Go Bold class. more to come!