Many Moons

I'd have a hard time trying to capture tonight's full Snow Moon through this thick cloudy night. But I've got better -- a whole slew of moons printed on 7 ounce painter's canvas. I love the lightweight of this and use it for covering chair cushions. I plan to make a bag (!!) for the Allegre retreat, for auction. 
 

Glue Trick

Karen Cummings (KCummings.art) posted IG where she used dribbled paint, dried, then added to a collage. I tried washable glue on a sheet of freezer paper, dried it, and set it behind a screen. I'll check tomorrow if the glue removes clearly after being covered with thickened dye. Thanks, Karen!
 

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.
 

A Handful is Ten

Ten additions to my online website 'shop' hardly made a dent in the amount. This one was from Art Quilt Tahoe.  A demonstration of mixing color yields a piece with several mixes of color, then I add a predominantly background screen over it. This background color is a 'mystery' brown/red I love.
 

Deceptive Color

Top pic is unwashed, with my mystery color (turquoise and magenta), with mixed mystery and turquoise. I know what happens, so I'm not shocked with the resulting color. Turquoise goes down dark when wet; my favorite purple is that mystery blend. I like what I have, and I'll plan to do it again. 
 

Doing My Homework

We're on to the second week of Printing Under the Influence tomorrow and I've managed to squeeze some time in the print studio to finish out some of the pieces I've started last week. I did assign a homework challenge, and I did one as well. We'll see how the washout goes.
 

Gift Giving

A dear friend ordered two yards of fabric she thought her son might like as wall art. On further thought, we asked her visiting son for his choice, and he choose this piece. Today I felt well enough to get to the longarm and get it quilted. I'll finish tomorrow morning, one of the last 'finishes' of the year.
 

Yards of Dots

The dots are supposed to represent PLATES, so I do hope that comes across. I've soda-soaked, printed, washed, and ironed this one length -- maybe 6 yards -- of silk organza. It'll be a 'skirt' that ties in front and two puffy sleeves worn without a bodice. Yes, a shirt underneath. Oh, maybe a train, too. 

 

Three Little Maids From School

There are assignments in the Printing Under the Influence workshop, and I try to do them as well. These are demo prints made from silkscreen day. My challenge is to record my progress. Here's the start, and I'll finish them and show you what I did. By the way, you should see what the others do, it's fab.
 

Never Enough Screens

You know the line-up just gets longer. I've got these hosed down waiting for adding stencil/tyvek/soywax. And yes, some are not taped, some are, and some just have a "frame" of soy wax. Rules, sometimes yes, sometimes no,
 

Time for Screens

Printing Under the Influence continues Thursday with a crash course review of silk screening. I have at least 3 dozen frames, but still had a tough time deciding which would be 'scrubbed' and remade for demos on applications of resists. Hey -- I think I have more in storage! Phew.
 

What a Difference

As I get ready to teach this week at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshop I'm packing these two examples where I've used the same motif for two very different effects. They use the same screen, but have distinct compositional styles and sharpness in the print. I could go on!
 

Before Packing

About midweek it comes time to get ready for next week at Quilting By the Lake. I want to take examples of printing for my workshop, as well as pieces to sell at Vendor Night. So, a bit of printing to do. I've made a few new soy wax screens and enjoy the variations I can make. Tuesday night the table will be full. 
 

Glue Report

Well, sad to say that the glue experiment has hit a snag. Snafu. Obstacle. I've printed a silk scarf where the glue started to break down (I think because the line was so small) and has left particles of glue stuck to the silk -- after being in water all day to wash and rinse. Back to the drawing board.
 

Phew -- Glue!

It worked well, that glue screen. I've got it printed and through the washout in a day, just to see if it was as nice as I'd thought. I cut the mixing blue with print paste to lighten, added a border, and like this as a workable background. It's on the wall hanging out.
 

Itchin

I can't wait till this glue dries and I can try it out in a print. I'm using Elmer's washable school glue, and from other tries, it may or may not wash out completely. So, I've got a sacrificial screen to use. Note that I've left off taping the screen. It works, just differently from the taped ones.
 

Is It Just Silkscreen?

At 43" square, this whole cloth is printed mainly in silkscreen images. But underlaying is monoprint and scraping. Texture from the quilting helps the areas surrounding the frenzy to be not so plain. It's faced, sleeved, hanging. Next!

Stacks of Prints

I've plowed through nearly all of the unfinished prints I brought home from the week at Pro Chemical and Dye, and now I've started on new work. I have to say that I enjoy working on the half-finished pieces, they are like completing a block. Starting new is better with that warm-up.

 

Soy Wax My Friend

For silk screening, I find soy wax gives me marks that I can't get any other way. I love the brush strokes that are part of the application, and the organic edge. Those spaghetti marks are rubbings. Just to confuse you.
 

Screen Trick

Before I paint soy wax on this screen I needed to locate the image. I've used dressmaker's chalk to draw on the screen. I've also used a watercolor pen at times. Soy wax is one of my main resists to use on screens because I love the hand drawn line. Easy to cold water wash the dye, hot water for soy.