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MonoStitching

I took one of the monoprints that I didn't really like and screen printed the (hand drawn) design on it.
The screen print image is the stitching guide as well.

You can see several painted layers on the fabric - magnolia leaves (in white).
The orange-ish portion was from a vine in our yard.
I rolled a transparent blue paint onto the plate then placed the vine stem onto the gelli plate.  I then removed the stem before pulling the print.

I drew out a design that I saw on a kleenex box, then created a thermofax screen out of it.
I screen printed it onto the top of the fabric surface.
It's in white, well light grey now that I think about it.
It is also under the red thread. I used it as a stitching guide.
Boy, did it make the hand stitching easier!

And just for grins, here is the back of the fabric.
I love the way the design looks that way as well.

It's just an experiment at this point.
It may or may not go into another piece.
Either way I am enjoying the meditative action of pulling thread.

More Monoprinting

Here are a few more monoprints from my two day session.
These are not color blocked as in the last post.
Again, I continue to use BOLD colors instead of my familiar muted color palette.
I think that I have about 6-7 layers on most of them...not enough on some pieces and too many on others!

This one in particular -

You can see in the bottom of the photo that there is at least three layers of all over color on it(albeit similar).
(as an aside, I use transparent fabric paint)
There is another 5 layers of images that were added via screenprinting, stamping or a similar method.
I really liked it better before I added the last layer of color from top to bottom.
But I can go back in an lighten it up later.

This fabric measures about 17 x 12. I work both sides separately
As one side dried, I printed on the other side.

This is the back of a different piece of fabric. I forgot to
photograph the front side!
But you can tell the color is awesome!

A close-up of the back

Even though this "only" has three layers, it is one of my favorite pieces.
I love the color combo as well as the shapes/etc.

This isn't really dark at the bottom. It's a shadow.
I love, love the color combination. I screenprinted
the (hand drawn) poppy on the gelli plate before
pulling the print. as well as the Queen Anne's Lace in
the upper right hand corner.

You can see the stamped flower on the right hand side
of the fabric in this shot. I love all of the subtle
shapes in this type of surface design.

I may post more if I get a chance.
I really must get to some "house" type work!

Monoprinting on Fabric

I've spent a couple of days monoprinting on fabric, using my Gelli Plate (love it!).

I have the 8 x 10" plate so I usually cut my fabric a little larger.
Some time ago I had signed up for Carla Sonheim's Gelli Plate Printmaking online workshop.
It's a self directed class at this time but was originally set up as a 1 week class.
There are only three videos but, wow, what awesome videos they are!

I don't take a lot of online workshops (mainly because I have been sooo disappointed in most of them) but this class is well work the money (only $25!).
I've been printmaking with my Gelli Plate for a couple of years but I had never thought about it in the way that Carla teaches it.
I watched the videos again to refresh my memory (you get unlimited viewing time!) as well as to get some inspiration before setting up.
I spent the morning printing away.
Here's a peek at what I did.
I may use these as they are or I may decide to add a few more layers.

I will mention this before I post the photos.
I usually work in a more muted color palette - lots of cream, white, black, tan and rust.
I am challenging myself to work in a more colorful palette.
What you will see below is a direct reflection of that challenge. I must say I am loving it!

 Most of these pieces measure 9 x 12 inches. Since I am layering the prints it is easy to make them any size you want (not just the size of the Gelli Plate).

As I said before, I may or may not print more layers on top of these...