If It's Monday...

 

...then it's packing day. I'll take four screens and pad them between with batting (for printing a soft surface) and a few stencils and rubbings. I'll land in Colorado Saturday night, ready to start setting up Sunday for a week of printing at Alegre. Very excited, and I think the class is gonna like the week. 

Wash Day

I had a full car load of materials to get back to the home studio from the week long class in the city. These screens all needed a good hosing down. They'll go back into service soon, as I try to catch up with works that are half-finished. 

 

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.

Shower Anyone?

I'm sure you've seen this setup before. Time to prepare for a week of virtual printing and the screens need cleaning. Purchasing ones that fit exactly in the double utility sink makes sense, as well as my kitchen pullout faucet with lever handle which saves my hands, and gives me enough force to clean quickly.
 

Going Slo?

 Corita Kent's "Luke 2.14,51" circa 1964 was part of a printing and color exhibition at the de Young museum which I saw in November. I'm about to start a week of virtual screen printing and this image made me stop and consider the clean, exuberant image quality, and the bossy graphics. But not going slow.

Left on the Design Wall

It's always waiting for me, that last bit to finish. I've got most of this together and if I can haul my sorry self out to Studio 301 tomorrow, I'll get it ready to quilt. Then I need to turn my attention to two smaller projects and some administrative tasks. Not in that order though. 
 

Evolution on the Wall

 

Over the last week I've moved parts of this around. I think I'm finished fleshing it out, and now I need to assemble or build it. Finishing comes with the chance to mess up the connections, the proportions, and smooth out the joints. In short, to change the energy that the rough set contains. We'll see.

The Fabric Workshop Tour

A brief stop in Philadelphia had me in a tour of the printing facility used for their program of study for intermediate and advanced students. Get a sense of the length of the padded print table they use for fabric with repeated patterning. Tour also included screen prep, dye mixing, and sample print. Sample books also.
 

The Print Table

I'm using the dyes leftover from the class in Auburn; there's not much, but enough to cover this yard. It is mainly red and turquoise, but the wet turquoise always looks black, so this view of a wet print is deceptive. It'll washout completely differently. Plus, I've added red to purple it up. 
 

Pinup the Beauties

At the Printing Under the Influence's end I explained how these prints came about. I'm using screens made in class, and these are demo prints -- that is -- made to try out screens, colors, rubbings, stencils and all kinds if experiments. But as a group, they are definitely workable for a 'real' piece. Great.
 

Discharge Day Results

It's not often I discharge, maybe once a summer. This time I've older dyed fabric (first three on left), previously discharged fabric (fushia w/large circles) and prints in multicolors. The results were fascinating. I was using screens and rubbings. Screens held my interest the most. All here are washed.
 

My Exotic Life

So, gallery hopping one day, washing screens the next. Getting ready for virtual printing class, and it's a full house. With about 3 dozen screens surrounding me, there are still not enough. I'll clean off some 'expendable' ones so I've got clear screens to add resists. Never enough, never.

Small Fry

Oh, the things that come in the mail! You might call this down-sizing but I'm hoping it's "right-sizing". I've purchased a 7" size electric frying pan for soy wax. More room to work. Thanks for the tip from one in my workshop. Next week I'll use it for Printing Under the Influence. A small but mighty group!

 

Back to Screens

I've had so much fun silk screening today. I am just about unpacked from teaching last week, and the screens are getting a new set of circles with hot soy wax. I bought a set of inexpensive brushes to use for that purpose. 

Time for More Fabric

Now that I'm back at the home studio, I've got some pieces I've finished and washed out, ready for adding to the website store soon. I like this one. It's a piece I've screened with a washable glue resist. That's where the white line comes from . It seems to last a long time, and I love that discovery!
 

Making Marks

This piece of printed linen was made exactly as my cotton. The only step different is that I zig-zag stitch the cut sides before I soda soak the fabric. That way it doesn't unravel or fray too much in washing. The screen print is paper left from printing labels. I'll have to capture that in Tyvek to last longer. 
 

The Screen That Won't Quit

Unbelievably, I ran out of white pfd fabric. So I quickly soda soaked some linen I had bought. The linen is printed with a texture on the front (how I bought it) so I'm printing the back. I'm using a glued screen that has been printed at least 50 times, and it's still viable. We should live so long.

Crazy Linen

Screen printing on linen uses the exact same techniques and mixes, but the results are so different. The linen shows more of the weave, and it has that softness and drape that is missing from cotton. Hope that those hand-stitchers like these new pieces. 
 

Happy Surprise

It's always fun to see what shakes out after I've added several screens over a monoprint. This turquoise monoprint had been printed months ago (no hurry to wash is fine) and I thought I printed in dark blue. A happy surprise. I also added drawing with thickened dye to mimic the motif.

 

The Family Gathers

I've started to cut into the fabrics, and slowly get this group to make sense. I am using a group of fabrics that speak to both commonalities and contrasts among them. Nothing too subtle for this composition. So far, I think it'll work.